Surprising Trade Proposal Involving Arber Xhekaj: a Former Employee of the Canadiens Just Spoke Out

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Joe El-Khoury
May 2, 2023 (0:47)

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Among the positives of last season for the Canadiens, there was certainly the excellent performance of defenseman Arber Xhekaj.

The rookie became a fan favorite at the Bell Centre during the season, not only with his excellent play, but also because he wasn't afraid to drop the gloves on some occasions.

Although Xhekaj's season ended prematurely, as he missed 31 games, his play convinced Canadiens' management that he should be part of the regular defensemen for the Habs in 2023-2024.

I say "should" because, as reported by Alexandre Desrosiers, from Rumeursdetransaction.com, an intriguing trade proposal involving the number 72 has surfaced in recent days, and it's worth taking a look.

While answering questions from fans, columnist Marc Dumont, from Montreal Hockey Now, received a trade proposal involving Xhekaj and the Canadiens' first-round pick belonging to the Panthers.

"The second first-round pick plus Xhekaj for the 9-10-11 pick to get Reinbacher. Who says no? Can add a 3rd or 2nd. Thanks!"

Dumont then evaluated the impact of draft picks over a decade and assigned them a numerical value, which looks like this:

The Canadiens trade: the 17th overall pick (value: 395), Arber Xhekaj for the ninth overall pick (596), the tenth overall pick (565), or the 11th overall pick (535).

In this exercise, it's assumed that the Canadiens will have the 17th overall selection in the first round, which is far from a guarantee due to the fact that the Panthers advanced to the second round of the playoffs.

The targeted pick here would be Swiss defenseman David Reinbacher, who is currently ranked ninth overall, which could justify such a personnel move.

As we know, Kent Hughes likes to take risks on the trade market and some experts have mentioned that it wouldn't be surprising if he used his second pick in a potential transaction.

However, we still don't know where this pick will be and everything will depend on the final result of the series between the Panthers and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Personally, we wouldn't do it and we would keep Xhekaj! What about you?

We truly believe that it would be a huge steal for the team that acquires Xhekaj in this trade.