The NHL Department of Player Safety has fined Montreal Canadiens defender Arber Xhekaj $3,385.42 for an incident involving Toronto Maple Leafs forward Cedric Pare.
Xhekaj’s actions were in response to a knee-to-knee collision by Pare that left Patrik Laine injured and out indefinitely. Pare wasn’t penalized, but Xhekaj received multiple penalties including a game misconduct for fighting.
This is the first time Xhekaj has been fined by the NHL, though he had several suspensions in the OHL for similar behavior. His aggressive style has led to 182 penalty minutes in his first 95 NHL games, with 101 of those coming during his rookie season.
Despite his high penalty count, Xhekaj hasn’t contributed much offensively, scoring only 23 points in his NHL career. Last year, he showed some promise with 11 points in 17 AHL games and hopes to bring more poise this season.
Competition and Future Prospects:
Xhekaj is currently competing with Jayden Struble and Kaiden Guhle for a spot on Montreal’s third pair. However, due to his reputation as an enforcer, he might end up as the seventh defenseman. The Canadiens need all the physicality they can get this year with potential lineups featuring Lane Hutson, Alex Newhook, Joshua Roy, and Nick Suzuki.
Fans might think this fine will make Xhekaj play more cautiously moving forward.
Will Xhekaj manage to balance his tough playstyle with better discipline? What do you think?
