- Herb Zurkowsky linked the Flames and Flyers to unsigned Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj
- Anthony Di Marco reports Calgary backed off after landing Jacob Middleton
- Read below for what Xhekaj’s agent is saying about the contract standoff
Arber Xhekaj got tied to the Calgary Flames again this week. Within hours, a second report had the Flames out.
Herb Zurkowsky of the Montreal Gazette linked both Calgary and the Philadelphia Flyers to the unsigned Canadiens defenseman in a column last Thursday. A source also told him Calgary was poking around on Xhekaj at last season’s trade deadline.
Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff knocked down the Calgary half on Monday night. He reported the Flames no longer see Xhekaj as a fit after picking up Jacob Middleton in the Blake Coleman trade with Minnesota.
Philadelphia is the sturdier link. David Pagnotta said on the DFO Rundown last month that the Flyers have “had trade interest in him for years; still the case now.”
The holdup isn’t money. Xhekaj played last season on a $1.3 million cap hit, and as a restricted free agent he has almost no leverage. His agent, Brian Bartlett, never filed for arbitration.
Bartlett was asked about the calendar with training camp roughly six weeks away.
“We have a long time until the season starts. We have to try and figure out where he fits into the structure of the team. Montreal has some decisions to make. We have some decisions to make. There’s no panic.”
Where he fits is the entire problem. Xhekaj’s ice time sank to a career-low 11:25 across 65 games last season, and he finished with one goal, three assists and a minus-8.
Martin St. Louis then scratched him for all five games of the Eastern Conference Final against Carolina.
Montreal’s depth chart in front of him hasn’t thinned out either. Lane Hutson, Noah Dobson, Mike Matheson, Kaiden Guhle, Alexandre Carrier and Jayden Struble are all under contract, and David Reinbacher and Adam Engstrom are pushing up from Laval. Teams have been calling Kent Hughes about the 25-year-old since early July.
Six weeks is plenty of runway for a new contract. It’s also plenty of runway for a phone call from Philadelphia.
