Montreal Canadiens v Toronto Maple Leafs — Canadiens coach Martin St-Louis comes to Arber Xhekaj's defense

"It's not cockiness" - Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis comes to Arber Xhekaj's defense following recent criticism

Modified Feb 22, 2024 17:05 GMT

Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis has come to the defense of Arber Xhekaj. Xhekaj has had a unique route to the NHL as he was undrafted in the OHL but signed with the Kitchener Rangers, where he had success but went undrafted to the NHL.

However, after impressing the Montreal Canadiens during training camp, he signed a contract and ended up making the team out of camp.

Since joining the NHL, Xhekaj has been known for his physical presence and his willingness to drop the gloves. However, with that, he has taken plenty of dumb penalties, but as his play has gotten better, Xhekaj was praised by his head coach Martin St. Louis.

“It was probably his most complete game he’s played with all the assets that he has. He’s a physical player — you saw that tonight,” St. Louis noted, via DailyHive. “He actually has some good offensive instincts and you saw that, his touches were really good offensively.

“I want my players to play with swagger and swagger is confidence — it’s not cockiness, which is totally different — and tonight, the way he built his game, he was building his swagger through it all.”

In the game against Buffalo on Wednesday, Xhekaj scored the opening goal, and Montreal captain Nick Suzuki thought it was the defenseman's best game in the NHL.

“It could have been his best game in the NHL – he was doing everything, making plays, using his shot, boxing people out, laying the body,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki told reporters after the game. “That was a really nice game from him and I think definitely gave him a little boost.”

Xhekaj finished the game with one goal and four shots on net, but Montreal lost 3-2.

Arber Xhekaj's NHL career

Arber Xhekaj is in his second season in the NHL and plays a physical presence which has won fans over. This season, Xhekaj has three goals and three assists in 23 games, and he says Wednesday's game was arguably his best.

“That one felt good for sure; plays were just coming to me, hits were coming at the right time so I think it was a good confidence game,” Xhekaj said. “You’d like to get the win — you hate to lose it especially when you play well… but as a game, I think it was one of my better ones for sure.”

Arber Xhekaj has skated in 76 NHL games recording eight goals and 11 assists for 19 points.