Arber Xhekaj finished at a -1 on Saturday night, and Canadiens watchers were not gentle about what they saw from him.
Slow reads, slow pivots, sloppy puck touches. One account wrote that he's on thin ice.
Another wasn't impressed by him or Jayden Struble at all, and named three young defencemen closing fast behind them.
Here's the part that stings. Those two were the only Montreal blue liners on either roster to finish the night minus.
Ten other defencemen dressed across the two games. Every single one of them walked out plus.
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He played 21:31 and put 2 shots on net. No points, and a minor on top of it.
Struble went 20:51 without registering a shot on goal. That's a quiet way to spend an evening you need to win.
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Rough night puts Arber Xhekaj's Canadiens future under new scrutiny
Reinbacher played 20:04 up in Toronto and finished at a +1. No noise, no mistakes worth writing about.
Mittelstadt got 18:59 at the Bell Centre, picked up an assist, and also came out on the right side of the ledger.
Adam Engstrom logged 18:17 and matched them. Three names in the rearview, three clean nights.
Michael Matheson led all Montreal defencemen with 27:03. Lane Hutson put up 3 points in 24:50.
Alexandre Carrier went +2 across 22:23. Noah Dobson played 24:24 and finished plus as well.
That's a crowded depth chart with no charity anywhere in it. Somebody in that group gets news they won't enjoy.
The warm Xhekaj story from Saturday was Arber watching his brother's fight on a phone from the penalty box.
The box score is a colder read than that. Both of those things happened on the same night.
Kaiden Guhle is expected out until at least October 23, which buys somebody in that group a little runway.
Ottawa visits Monday. Another audition in front of the same jury.
So how much does one exhibition night actually cost a player? Losing ground in camp works like missing a train by a minute. The next one comes, and somebody already took your seat.
He signed a one-year deal to be here. That's the kind of contract that stops protecting you the moment younger legs start winning the same minutes.
Should Arber Xhekaj lose his roster spot to David Reinbacher?
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