NHL 25: Arber Xhekaj in the NHL’s top-10 for strength and power of hit shot

Over the past few days, EA Sports has been publishing player ratings for the next edition of its NHL game. We’ve seen Cole Caufield rated at 88, while Nick Suzuki is close to 90.

All in all, these are very good odds.

That said, today the company published the ratings of the best players according to specific skills. Among others, the 10 strongest players were ranked.

And when we look at these rankings, we see that in sixth place is a certain… Arber Xhekaj.

In fact, he’s tied with several other players. Theoretically, he’s tied for fourth.

When we’re talking strength…we’re talking about them #NHL25 pic.twitter.com/J9roP57kuG

– EA SPORTS NHL (@EASPORTSNHL) September 19, 2024

Obviously, we know that the Sheriff is a colossus. He’s an extremely strong guy, and it’s nice to see that he’s getting the recognition he deserves.

What’s even more impressive, though, is that Xhekaj is in the league’s top-10 for another skill: slap shot power.

His 93 rating puts him on a par with the likes of Steven Stamkos and Roman Josi… and proves our colleague Marc-Olivier Cook, who was talking about Xhekaj’s slap shot recently, right.

In terms of wrist shot power, we also note the presence of Patrik Laine in the top-10.

Power & Finesse

These players do it best #NHL25 pic.twitter.com/E9rkYptTDz

– EA SPORTS NHL (@EASPORTSNHL) September 19, 2024

These are great accolades for these guys, who do indeed have elite-caliber assets.

It’s a little surprising not to see Xhekaj in the top-10 for checking, that said… especially since he has a teammate in the rankings: good old Michael Pezzetta.

LOOK OUT

For these players on the ice #NHL25 pic.twitter.com/sVeXISmW1l

– EA SPORTS NHL (@EASPORTSNHL) September 19, 2024

Obviously, you have to take some and leave some with odds like these. It’s not meant to be a perfect representation of the players, and it remains an opinion that, to a certain extent, is subjective.

That said, hats off to the Habs guys who have been recognized in these rankings. All that remains is to see how well they do in the new edition of the game.

Overtime

– Shohei Ohtani is making history (again).

He did it with a monstrous performance against the Marlins. https://t.co/nNAuBhg3BW

– Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) September 19, 2024

– No wonder he had a good game today.

“I felt good from the first shift…” (the clip cut out so we couldn’t hear the rest of the quote)

– Oliver Kapanen today pic.twitter.com/hjw48rstXO

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) September 19, 2024

– Slaf is confident.

Reporter: “How different do you feel this year compared to last year starting at camp?”

Juraj Slafkovsky: “I feel way more confident than I felt last year. I feel like in this league it’s the most important thing…I’m not starting where I started last year, I’m starting way… pic.twitter.com/rBOLDxWm5j

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) September 19, 2024

– Mikko Rantanen isn’t too worried about his contractual situation.