Montreal Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj confirms Maple Leafs rumour
The Toronto Maple Leafs are now confirmed to be one of three teams that approached now Habs defenseman Arber Xhekaj when he was an undrafted free agent.
Before Arber Xhekaj joined the Montreal Canadiens, he was infamously working at Costco, or as he put it, "living a normal life". In October of 2021, he finally realized his dream of one day playing in the NHL and signed an entry-level deal with his favourite team the Montreal Canadiens. On a recent episode of 'Spittin' Chiclets', however, Xhekaj revealed that it almost didn't happen and two other Atlantic teams had called him first.
While he didn't specify whether the Leafs offered him a contract, invite to training camp or an AHL deal, it comes as a surprise that the Leafs did reach out at the very least. Before finalizing things with the Panthers, Xhekaj told his agent to wait a couple of days because he had a feeling something was going to happen with the Habs.
Xhekaj now has a new 2-year deal that will see him earn $1.3M per season - a far cry from hourly wages at Costco. A hard-hitting, scrappy 25-year-old, «WiFi» as he is known, has skated in 95 games with the Habs so far where he has registered 23 points to go along with 182 penalty minutes.
Source: Spittin Chiclets
Spittin' Chiclets: Arber Xhekaj
Source: Hockey DB
Arber Xhekaj Player Profile
| POLL | ||
AOUT 24 | 961 ANSWERS Montreal Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj confirms Maple Leafs rumour Should the Leafs have tried harder to sign Arber Xhekaj? | ||
| Yes | 464 | 48.3 % |
| No | 323 | 33.6 % |
| I haven't seen him play enough | 174 | 18.1 % |
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