“The Habs need more guys like Florian Xhekaj”

As we all know, the Montreal Canadiens have one of the NHL’s finest banks of prospects.

With the latest selection of Ivan Demidov, coupled with David Reinbacher, Lane Hutson, Michael Hage, Jacob Fowler and all the other young players established with the club, the future seems to be in good hands.

The Habs can count on a very young core of players already established in the big league.

These include Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, Kaiden Guhle and Arber Xhekaj, all of whom are 23 or younger.

Not to mention team captain Nick Suzuki, who is only 24.

In short, the Tricolore are still hoping to pick up at least one more attacking prospect to solidify their top-6.

Steven Ellis recently spoke to his readers about the Flanelle.

Doing an AMA on @HabsOnReddit now, so come join: https://t.co/oE50fliqLk

– Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) July 26, 2024

One of the questions asked was what would be the most glaring hole in the Habs prospect pool.

To that, Ellis replied that they’d need more energetic forwards for depth.

“You don’t always need those players with 20-30 goal potential. You want players who bring energy, who hit and play well defensively every time they’re there like their careers are on the line… Someone like Florian Xhekaj.” – Steven Ellis

Arber Xhekaj’s little brother is a 4ᵉ round pick, so the chances of him becoming a regular NHL player are pretty slim.

However, if Arber’s sudden progression is anything to go by, anything is possible for Florian.

And players like him are a dime a dozen, especially on the back three.

Michael Pezzetta has a similar style to what Ellis described, but his potential to be a regular is limited.

He remains, however, an excellent option as a 13ᵉ forward.

Obviously, this type of player can be made available by lower-cost transaction, or even by waivers.

But every now and then, nuggets emerge, much as Arber Xhekaj was for the defensive brigade in front of a rare gem, although he certainly won’t be a star.

Florian probably won’t become a top-6 player, but he can definitely bring his share of benefits by playing on the bottom-6.

Overtime

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“For me, the wound was open and I had to go play. It didn’t have time to close.”

MORE @TheHockeyNews https://t.co/QhTSKxLD1k

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– I can’t wait to see this duo in action.

Auger-Aliassime pumped to play #Olympics doubles with Raonic

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– Mark Masters (@markhmasters) July 27, 2024