Arber Xhekaj played injured for most of the season

Everyone agrees that Arber Xhekaj’s start to the season was pretty disappointing. He didn’t look anything like the gritty player we met in his first NHL season in 2022-23.

However, during his end-of-season review on Tuesday, the defenseman revealed that he played almost the entire season with a left shoulder injury.

Arber Xhekaj played with an injury (left shoulder) practically the whole year.

“It’s my fault, I was hiding it, I wanted to play.” – Xhekaj

– J-F Chaumont (@JFChaumontLNH) April 16, 2024

“It’s my fault, I was hiding it, I wanted to play.” – Arber Xhekaj

It’s understandable, especially after his poor start to the season. Let’s just say he had no choice but to step up and reclaim his spot if he hoped to sign a reasonable contract extension this summer. He will be a restricted free agent.

He was traded to the Laval Rocket in December following an injury, and spent just over a month there. It was on his return from Laval that he settled back into his regular position in the Habs line-up.

His 10 points in 44 games didn’t amount to much, but a closer look at his game showed him to be much more confident both defensively and offensively.

Xhekaj’s shoulder injury can be traced back to his junior hockey days, and he thought he would be able to play during the season and rest his shoulder in the off-season.

Arber Xhekaj said he decided to hide his shoulder injury, which had lingered going back to junior. Just felt he could play through it and address it in the off-season after missing so much time last year with the right shoulder injury. He’s confident he’ll be back to 100 for camp

– Eric Engels (@EricEngels) April 16, 2024

Unfortunately for him, the injury got the better of him and he had to forfeit the rest of the campaign. However, he reassured everyone that he should be back at 100% for training camp before next season.

On a more positive note, Arber Xhekaj was asked how he felt about one day playing with his brother in the NHL. Naturally, he explained that he’s extremely anxious and confident that it will happen one day. He also said that watching the two brothers play together will be a lot of fun.

Reporter: “How long before the two Xhekaj brothers terrorize the opponents?”

Arber Xhekaj: “I can’t wait man. My whole family, we’re over the moon for that day to come. If it does happen, when it does happen, and I think it’s a matter of when, it’ll be fun to watch.” pic.twitter.com/ZgvzTJPj1u

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) April 16, 2024

Arber Xhekaj’s NHL entry-level contract will expire this summer, and he’ll have to find a new deal with Kent Hughes. It would be surprising to see him leave during the off-season, but anything can happen with so much traffic on the Habs’ blue line.

In gusto

– Another goal for Ovechkin.

Went off the shaft of Ovechkin’s stick for his 31s goal of the season – No. 853 of his career.

Deflected McIlrath’s shot. https://t.co/zXfuB8yNH2

– Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) April 16, 2024

– A round-up of MLB news.

Dodgers prospect had a good training camp. https://t.co/uko4AgF86q

– Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) April 16, 2024

– A welcome return.

Remains to be seen when/if Alek Manoah will do the same in Toronto. https://t.co/W6mgq6uXYc

– Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) April 16, 2024