\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMarch 28, 2026\u00a0\u00a0(1:53 PM)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t ![\"Montreal](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/654770.webp.webp\" "\\"Montreal")
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Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Arber Xhekaj will have to be patient before regaining his regular spot with the Montreal Canadiens.<\/p>\n
At the moment, Martin St-Louis is very pleased with the execution level of his group on the ice, and especially with Jayden Struble\u2019s play.<\/p>\n
During his most recent press conference, the coach was particularly complimentary of the young Struble.<\/p>\n
Journalist Nicolas Cloutier points out that the American defenseman has firmly seized the last available chair in the lineup, which makes Arber Xhekaj the true “extra” defenseman.<\/p>\n
Struble is showing that he has absolutely no intention of giving up his place in the starting lineup.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the media, Martin St-Louis also said that Jayden Struble is playing perfectly according to his identity.<\/p>\n
“I find they are playing according to their identity. Jayden is playing to his identity, and Lane is capable of doing his thing.<\/p>\n
We occasionally rotate Lane onto other pairings, but I find they are providing us with a lot of stability and consistency right now.”<\/p>\n
– Martin St. Louis on Jayden Struble and Lane Hutson<\/p>\n
His growing chemistry with partner Lane Hutson is bringing a very reassuring level of consistency.<\/p>\n
Arber Xhekaj has officially lost his job<\/p>\n
For Xhekaj, those comments do indeed mean a prolonged stay in the press box.<\/p>\n
The defenseman will have to watch the action from afar while his teammates battle on the ice. That must be difficult to deal with.<\/p>\n
In the National Hockey League, changing a formula that is working is always a major risk, and Martin St-Louis knows that very well.<\/p>\n
While waiting for his turn, Arber Xhekaj will have to maintain an excellent work ethic during practices, just as he has been doing so well for quite some time now.<\/p>\n
The time will inevitably come when the group needs his physical presence again. At least, we hope so!<\/p>\n
That said, barring an injury, unfortunately we should not expect to see him play in the playoffs this year.<\/p>\n
Previously on Montreal Hockey Fanatics<\/p>\n
POLL<\/p>\n
3 HOURS AGO|165 ANSWERS<\/p>\n
Jayden Struble is making it very hard for the Canadiens to bring back Arber Xhekaj<\/p>\n
Who would you have as 6th defensemen?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PUBLICATION Leo Honein March 28, 2026\u00a0\u00a0(1:53 PM) Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images Arber Xhekaj will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[407,5,410,502,412,21,4,35656],"class_list":{"0":"post-528184","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-arber-xhekaj","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-jayden-struble","11":"tag-lane-hutson","12":"tag-martin-st-louis","13":"tag-montreal-canadiens","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-nicolas-cloutier"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116308938096793068","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}