Arber’s New Mission, Crosby’s Future, and a Slap in the Face for Puygachyov

Marc-Olivier Cook
Arber’s New Mission, Crosby’s Future, and a Slap in the Face for Puygachyov
Credit: Vitor Munhoz/NHLI via Getty Images

Arber Xhekaj isn't a perfect defender.

He has his strengths… and he also has his weaknesses. But you know what?

The Sheriff hasn't been playing bad hockey since the start of the season. Again, it's not perfect… but it's far from disastrous either.

What's helping him?

Arber has a better understanding of the game and is able to control himself better on the ice. We saw it in Washington on Wednesday night: he got into a bit of a scuffle with Tom Wilson, but he stayed within the rules so as not to hurt his team.

The fact that he has a role on the penalty kill actually helps him stay calmer. And in fact, he loves the new assignment Martin St-Louis has given him: playing on the PK. Nicolas Cloutier discussed this in a recent article:

Arber is capable of playing the right way. And that's what he needs to do night after night to earn the trust of Martin St-Louis and the other Habs coaches.

If he can also perform well on the penalty kill… all the better!

Crosby's Future

Ah, #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins…

You know, the guy who's been linked to the Canadiens 8,349,013 times in recent years? The guy who keeps performing even at his age… and even though his team isn't what it used to be?

Sidney Crosby's future is the talk of the town—and always will be. As long as he doesn't retire, we'll always be wondering what's next for him…

But according to Josh Yohe, who covers the Penguins in Pittsburgh (The Athletic), we shouldn't necessarily expect him to leave the Penguins even if he hasn't signed his new contract yet.

It could happen later… because it's up to the Kid.

Crosby clearly wants to take his time to think about what he wants.

And when I say that, I'm mainly referring to the structure of his next contract: will he want to sign a two- or three-year deal, or is he more interested in taking it year by year?

That remains to be seen. But I wouldn't be too optimistic if I were a die-hard Canadiens fan…

A Slap in the Face for Puygachyov

Gleb Pugachyov is off to a rough start to the season in the MHL.

He suffered a concussion at the start of the season and is struggling to put points on the board (one assist in seven games) in the Russian junior league.

That didn't stop him from being called up by Torpedo for the team's game today in the KHL.

But…

However, the Canadiens prospect was used as the 13th forward and didn't see a single minute of ice time during the game. When I said this was a slap in the face for him, that's exactly what I meant.

And now, one has to wonder if the Torpedo called him up just to send him back down before long… 


In a nutshell

– I like that.

– That's style!

– … 😅

– Stay tuned.

facebook icon Share twitter icon Tweet linkedin icon Share
Copied!