The Montreal Canadiens have signed forward prospect Florian Xhekaj to a three-year, entry-level contract, the club announced Tuesday afternoon.
Xhekaj, 19, collected 34 goals and 65 points in 63 games with the Ontario Hockey League’s Brantford Bulldogs in the 2023-24 regular season. The 6’4″ left wing added three goals and five points in six playoff games with the team.
The Canadiens originally selected Xhekaj in the fourth round (No. 101 overall) of the 2023 NHL Draft. He is the younger brother of Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj.
The younger Xhekaj is slated to join the American Hockey League’s Laval Rocket on an amateur tryout for the rest of the 2023-24 season. His entry-level deal with the Canadiens will take effect in 2024-25.
Xhekaj went unselected in his first year of NHL Draft eligibility before joining the OHL’s Bulldogs for the 2022-23 season. The Hamilton, Ontario product racked up 25 points and 76 penalty minutes in 68 games in his first OHL campaign, leading the Canadiens to take him with their first of three fourth-round picks.
The Canadiens selected nine players in the 2023 NHL Draft. Xhekaj is the second member of that group to sign an entry-level contract with the club, joining No. 5 overall selection David Reinbacher.
Xhekaj will report to a Laval team that is firmly in the midst of a race for the fifth and final playoff spot in the AHL North Division. With just four games remaining in the season, the Rocket rank seventh in the division by points percentage but are within striking distance of both the Utica Comets and Belleville Senators.
The two Xhekaj brothers were both in the news on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, the Canadiens announced that Arber Xhekaj will miss the rest of the 2023-24 season and will soon undergo surgery to his left shoulder.
The Canadiens have failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the third consecutive season and are currently 15th in the Eastern Conference with a 29-36-12 record through 77 games. They’ll return to action Tuesday to take on the Philadelphia Flyers at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
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