Canadiens Defenseman Arber Xhekaj Shunned Offer From Maple Leafs

After a strong final season in junior hockey in 2021-22, undrafted hard-nosed defenseman Arber Xhekaj was holding out hope that his favorite team, the Montreal Canadiens would come calling. And as he tells the story now, on the Spittin' Chiclets podcast, the Toronto Maple Leafs made him an offer first, but he didn't accept it, holding out for Montreal.

Habs defenseman Arber Xhekaj says he received an offer from the Leafs after going undrafted but chose to wait it out a few more days until his favorite team, the Canadiens, called.

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In addition to the Leafs, the Florida Panthers also called and he considered going there, but he knew that the Habs were interested, and a few days later they did make Xhekaj an offer to come to camp, and the rest is history.

The 23-year-old, 6'4", 238-pounder has been a rough and tumble third-pairing d-man for the Canadiens the past couple of seasons, though his 2023-24 campaign was cut short due to a couple of injuries, finally ending with shoulder surgery in early April. In 44 games, he recorded 10 points, a plus/minus rating of +6 and a punishing 145 hits and 81 penalty minutes in almost 16 minutes a night. His rookie season saw him register 159 hits in 51 games, along with 101 penalty minutes, 13 points and a -9 rating.

Xhekaj signed a new two-year deal with the Habs this summer with a $1.3 million cap hit, and also watched his younger brother Florian get drafted by Montreal in the 4th round of the NHL Entry Draft. The 20-year-old has already signed his three-year entry-level deal.

The Xhekajs were born in Hamilton, Ontario, and moved to Toronto as a teenager, but they were obviously not Maple Leaf fans in their youth, preferring the Habs.