Martin St-Louis’s message to Florian Xhekaj

Marc-Olivier Cook
Martin St-Louis’s message to Florian Xhekaj
Credit: Capture d'écran/YouTube

Florian Xhekaj is having a good training camp.

And I think we can all agree that this isn't exactly a well-kept secret around town.

Josh Anderson put it well: Florian is doing everything he can to stand out on the ice. He's making life difficult for the Canadiens' management, and that's exactly what we wanted to see from him at camp this year. 

There's been a lot of talk about meritocracy since the start of camp… and I wonder how valid that really is.

Because when you hear Martin St-Louis say that having a fantastic camp isn't enough, it's natural to ask questions. The Habs captain's message to Florian is pretty clear:

In his comments, St-Louis mentioned that a player can always be called up if needed.

And indirectly, I got the impression that the coach was saying: we liked Florian's camp… and he'll be on the list of players likely to be the first called up from Laval during the season. 

Because we shouldn't forget that the Canadiens already have plenty of NHL forwards on their roster.

It's hard to bench a veteran (or a young veteran) to make room for a guy with no NHL experience. Especially given that the Habs want to start the season with the mindset of going all the way: Martin St-Louis will put his trust in the players he knows before giving a player a chance to prove himself.

Nevertheless, that doesn't change the fact that Florian has turned heads with his performances over the past week. And if he is indeed cut by the team, he'll be able to boast that he left a (very) strong impression in Montreal.


In a nutshell

– To be continued.

– Oh!

– Impressive list.

– Good.

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