Arber Xhekaj Turning Heads at Training Camp

While his brother Florian added weight to his frame to become a more imposing power forward, Arber’s body transformation was focused on shedding body fat while still adding muscle, according to his mother, Simona. With the help of their mother, both Xhekaj brothers were able to achieve their body goals throughout the summer.

With less body fat, Arber Xhekaj has managed to look faster on his feet, which can be dangerous for opposing teams to deal with, as he will be able to use his newfound speed along with his insane strength to deliver more bone-crushing hits.

Arber told the media on Saturday that his goal this summer was to improve on his mobility for the upcoming 2025-26 NHL season, as he wants to be able to keep up with all the faster guys in the league, which will make him a better defenseman as a whole. He mentioned that he didn’t have any skating coach, but he worked with Habs skills coach Adam Nicholas to work on his skating by receiving video to help him focus on what he needs to do to become a better skater. 

The idea to improve his skating came after he and head coach Martin St. Louis were discussing that footspeed was a weakness in his overall game. He was told he needed to improve his skating from side to side and in the corners. Xhekaj added that he has always been able to get the speed when he starts to push, but he had trouble coming to a full stop at his top speed. Now that he can come to a full stop properly, he has less of an issue going at his top speed when doing drills or scrimmaging at Camp. His main focus on his skating throughout the summer was being able to come to a full stop.

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St. Louis spoke about Xhekaj after Saturday’s scrimmage, where he mentioned that the defenseman has come into camp with a newfound confidence that comes from his body transformation and skating ability. He mentioned that Arber put in the work to check more boxes in his game, which has given him all his confidence in his game. With confidence also comes playing better, as Xhekaj will now be willing to try different things that can result in helping the team, such as carrying the puck up ice and even showing off his stick handling a bit.

It will be interesting to see how Xhekaj’s skating and confidence translate to his game come the start of the regular season. One thing is for sure is he looks more ready to play NHL regular minutes than ever before. He really has the chance to solidify himself as the 6th defenseman throughout the preseason.

Do you think Arber Xhekaj is in for a big season with his improved skating and newfound confidence?