Hockey

Florian Xhekaj: the potential for a more successful NHL career than Arber Xhekaj
Mathis Therrien
Florian Xhekaj: the potential for a more successful NHL career than Arber Xhekaj
Credit: Getty Images

Aside from the fact that the Canadiens de Montréal put a brilliant end to their five-game losing streak, what's on everyone's lips this morning is the name of Florian Xhekaj.

Everyone is talking about him, and everyone sees his first game in the National Hockey League as having been a perfect performance.

Xhekaj stood out at every level, quickly making him a crowd favorite in Montreal.

Florian Xhekaj's fine debut certainly reminds us of Arber Xhekaj's debut in the NHL three years ago, when he pulverized Zack Kassian.

Arber had quickly become one of the Habs' signature players, gaining confidence and establishing himself in the NHL for good.

However, since that rookie season, Arber Xhekaj has found it harder to remain consistent and, above all, to be as dominant when throwing down the gloves and defending his teammates.

There's certainly been a drop in his adrenalin and speed since his NHL debut, which makes us wonder what's next for Florian Xhekaj.

However, I believe that since Florian is a forward, he really does have the potential to do better than his brother and ultimately have a more successful career than him.

As a depth forward, most likely on a fourth line, Florian Xhekaj won't have as much responsibility as Arber does now, and will have to for the rest of his career.

He'll have less stress and pressure from the penalty box, as his presence will be less important in a top-12 forward than in a top-6 defenseman.

Losing a forward for five minutes or more after a fight hurts a lot less than losing a defenseman.

Florian will be less likely than Arber to hurt his team with mistakes or turnovers, which could clearly allow him to shine more than his brother.

Of course, there's no way of confirming this hypothesis that Florian is destined for a more successful career, but several factors may lead us to think seriously about it.

This even leads me to reiterate my position that I'd love to see the Canadiens move Arber Xhekaj from defenseman to forward, because I sincerely believe he'd be more useful in a depth forward role, and above all, he'd shine more with his rugged, intimidating style.

Anyway, enough about Xhekaj, now what else can I take away from the Habs' 5-2 win over the Maple Leafs?

1. Noah Dobson finally showed that he's got quite a shot.

Since the start of the season, Dobson has been playing excellent hockey, very consistently, but offensively, we hadn't yet seen the full extent of his talent, as he hadn't really stood out.

Yesterday, however, we were able to see the full splendor of his excellent shooting, as he scored two magnificent goals on reception.

Let's hope this will give him confidence for the future, and that he'll be able to use his shot more, and score more goals in the process.

2. We saw the Josh Anderson of the good old days last night.

For a rare occasion in recent years, we saw Anderson shine and stand out from the crowd in a number of ways, something that hasn't been common since he took on the role of depth forward.

It was great to see him play with confidence and with fire in his eyes.

He was all over the ice, and I sincerely believe that playing with Florian Xhekaj greatly helped Anderson stand out.

Xhekaj played a very intense and physical game, which clearly motivated Anderson to give as good as the new kid.

What's more, with Xhekaj playing the “goon” role, it gave Anderson more room to express himself offensively.

In short, I can't wait to see the line-up of Anderson, Xhekaj and Jake Evans again.

3. Juraj Slafkovsky really looked like a first choice overall last night.

Seriously, I loved Slaf's game last night, even though he only got one small assist on the scoresheet.

The big Slovak was all over the ice, but above all, I was impressed by his speed in possession of the puck.

On several occasions, he was able to carry the puck with ease, skating around his opponents with speed, but also with excellent puck handling.

As we all saw, he came very close to scoring one of the goals of the week with his cookie-cutter surge.

In short, I think being separated from Suzuki and Caufield is good for Slaf, because instead of feeling dragged down by the other two, he really seems to be taking charge of his line right now.

He's showing a great deal of confidence at the moment, and we hope this continues and leads to better production.

The Canadiens play their next game on Wednesday night, when they travel to Utah to take on the Mammoth at 9:30pm.


Overtime

– Indeed.

– He was excellent yesterday with his five points.

– He would have capoté as they say in good French.

– A crazy match.

– Wow.

facebook icon Share twitter icon Tweet linkedin icon Share
Copied!