Turnaround: Arber Xhekaj about to leave the Montreal Canadiens' roster?
Since the beginning of the season, there are several young defensemen who are impressing the Montreal Canadiens, and that obviously includes the robust Arber Xhekaj.
Xhekaj scored another big goal last night and is doing everything he can to make himself indispensable to the Habs, but he is still in danger of losing his spot in the lineup.
Why is that?
Simply because Joel Edmundson is back in the game, and because Mike Matheson seems to be about to do the same. A big turnaround for Matheson and some impending bad news for a young defenseman in the organization.
And with the recent performances of Kaiden Guhle and Jordan Harris, unfortunately for "Jacko", they will obviously move ahead of him.
Let's take a look at the CH's current defensive brigade:
Guhle (Lefty) - Savard (Righty)
Edmundson (Left) - Xhekaj (Left)
Harris (Left Handed) - Kovacevic (Right Handed)
And here we will soon have to add to that the name of Mike Matheson, who will be automatically inserted into the lineup and who is a lefty.
Guhle and Savard will remain in place.
Edmundson and Harris will stay in place.
That leaves Xhekaj or Khovacevic. One of the two will bail out and have to give up his spot to Matheson.
Will Martin St-Louis and Kent Hughes decide to replace Kovacevic with Matheson, and go with FIVE lefties? It's not absolutely impossible, but according to many experts, it's highly unlikely.
So this is a situation to watch closely, but unfortunately, it looks like Arber Xhekaj is possibly in danger of losing his spot in the lineup.
Don't get us wrong! We don't want this to happen and we don't think it would be a wise decision, but if we look at the facts, we have no choice but to talk about this possibility.
If it was your decision, what would you do?
One thing is certain. If Xhekaj wants to keep his place in the lineup, he can't really make any more mistakes and he has to play flawlessly and very convincingly until Matheson returns to the game.
| POLL | ||
What would you do when Mike Matheson returned to the game? | ||
| Leave Xhekaj in the lineup and have 5 lefties | 394 | 87.2 % |
| Leave Kovacevic in and have two right-handers | 58 | 12.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
