- The Canadiens signed Arber Xhekaj to a one-year contract worth $1.5 million for 2026-27
- Xhekaj led Montreal in hits and penalty minutes last season, ranking fifth in the NHL in PIM
- Read below for the full terms and how the Habs got their last RFA under contract
The Sheriff is staying in Montreal.
Arber Xhekaj and the Canadiens agreed to terms Tuesday on a one-year contract worth $1.5 million for 2026-27. General manager Kent Hughes announced the deal on the eve of training camp, checking the last restricted free agent off Montreal’s list.
Xhekaj was finishing the two-year deal he signed in July 2024, which carried a $1.3 million cap hit. The raise is small and the term is short, so both sides get another season of evidence before anyone talks about something longer.
His 2025-26 line looked a lot like the rest of them. The 6-foot-4, 240-pound defenseman played 65 games, put up four points (1G, 3A) and served 116 penalty minutes, fifth-most in the league. He also led the Canadiens in hits with 148.
Getting here was not a given. Trade chatter picked up around Xhekaj over the summer with Calgary floated as a suitor, and there was talk Montreal might explore sign-and-trade routes for him and fellow RFA Zachary Bolduc to fund a bigger addition on the roster.
Instead the Habs kept both, along with Alex Newhook on a four-year extension announced the same day. Here’s our look at the Sheriff sticking around at $1.5 million:
Montreal also got something new out of him in the spring. Xhekaj dressed for 13 games during the run to the Eastern Conference Final and finished with a goal and an assist, the goal being his first in the playoffs.
It came off a faceoff in Game 6 against Buffalo on May 16. Watch it here:
Undrafted out of junior with Kitchener and Hamilton, Xhekaj played his way onto the roster off a 2021 training camp invite and has barely left since. He owns 230 NHL games, 33 points and 416 penalty minutes going into year five.
Now he has one season to turn a $1.5 million job into a real contract, with a nearly identical Montreal roster around him.
