Florian Xhekaj Bringing Much Needed Energy To Habs

The main role that Xhekaj has taken up since being called up for Saturday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs is being the relentless forechecker that manages to help get his whole team into the game. From his very first NHL shift, Xhekaj made himself known by throwing a big hit on the Leafs defence. The way that he skates in and finishes his checks is something that can motivate his whole team with the way he leaves an impact off his hits.

While Xhekaj may not have had nearly the offensive impact early in the season with the Laval Rocket that he had last year with just 2 goals and 4 points in 16 AHL games, considering his role, he can easily still be effective without scoring a ton of points. Although he does seem capable of producing points, as he played a key role in an Anderson goal scored against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night. In all honesty, his offensive skills are very underrated, as he continues to grow his game in that aspect every season since being drafted as an overager by the Canadiens in the 4th round of the 2023 draft.

As great as it is that he’s shown that he can help Evans and Anderson produce offensively, his role will be geared to being more of a defensive player. Despite only playing 2 NHL games, he does not look overwhelmed at all with playing in his own zone and is showing signs that he could one day be able to play a regular role on the Habs’ penalty kill.

It’s a very small sample size, but it really does seem like Florian is ready to be an everyday NHLer, playing the role of an energy guy who can get under the other team’s skin as well as protect his teammates in a similar role to his brother. Except the fact that he’s a forward means that his job will be more of an agitator to try to get the defence and goaltender off their games.

It will be interesting to see if he can stick around for the long term or if he will be sent back down after the road trip, considering that the Canadiens recently reclaimed Sammy Blais from the Leafs and the two forwards play a very similar style. At the same time, a relentless forechecker like Xhekaj and Blais on two different bottom six lines could help bring even more energy to the Habs lineup.

According to reports by Renaud Lavoie, the Canadiens don’t intend to keep Blais down in Laval for very long after they assigned the forward there earlier today. With that being said, there will likely be a player that goes down. The reality is Jared Davidson may be the more skilled player, but the momentum that Florian Xhekaj has brought to the team may be too much to break up from the Habs currently. Therefore, even if Blais does come up very soon, it shouldn’t affect Xhekaj’s place in the NHL.

What are your thoughts of Florian Xhekaj in the NHL thus far?