Arber Xhekaj is staying in Montreal. The Canadiens agreed to terms with the defenseman on a one-year contract for 2026-27, the team announced Tuesday.
The deal carries a cap hit of $1,500,000, a bump from his previous $1,300,000 number. Eric Engels was first to report the figure.
Xhekaj put up 4 points in 65 games this season, one goal and three assists, while playing a physical shutdown role on the back end.
He finished the regular season at minus-8. Not pretty.
But something shifted once the games got tighter. Over 13 playoff games, Xhekaj posted a plus-5 rating with a goal and an assist.
He's carried that into his most recent stretch too, scoring a goal in his last five games. Small sample, but it's there.
Martin St-Louis has used him as a physical complement to a blue line that includes Noah Dobson, Lane Hutson and a banged-up Kaiden Guhle.
Guhle remains out with an undisclosed injury, expected back around November 3. That opens up more minutes for the bottom pairing in the meantime.
Kent Hughes bets small to keep the pairing physical
Kent Hughes locked in a depth piece without tying up real cap space, a number that barely registers against a payroll built around Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.
Montreal sits sixth overall at 106 points with a plus-27 goal differential, a club that has stayed structurally sound even when its bottom pairing gets tested physically.
One year is short, though. That's the part worth sitting with.
This reads like a bridge for both sides, not a real vote of confidence. Xhekaj gets a modest raise, the Canadiens get a hedge instead of a commitment.
Kent Hughes has done this dance with depth defensemen before, letting term stay short until the price of patience becomes clear.
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Come next summer, Montreal will have to decide if Xhekaj's physical game is worth locking down for longer than twelve months.
Should the Canadiens have signed Arber Xhekaj for more than one year?
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