Florian Xhekaj<\/a> can help address.<\/p>\nKent Hughes is still looking to add a quality center or winger.<\/p>\n
But a physical reinforcement for the bottom six would be just as valuable come playoff time.<\/p>\n
With no major moves made since the start of the summer, attention has shifted to internal options.<\/p>\n
And Florian Xhekaj checks several of the boxes the Canadiens are looking for.<\/p>\n
He plays with contagious energy. He embraces the physical side of the game and never hesitates to stand up for his teammates.<\/p>\n
Fans are also dreaming of finally seeing the Xhekaj brothers together in Montreal.<\/p>\n
That said, they’ll have to wait a little longer.<\/p>\n
Former Canadiens scout Grant McCagg poured cold water on those hopes, saying he doesn’t believe Florian Xhekaj is ready for the NHL.<\/p>\n
The Canadiens Have Every Reason to Be Patient With Florian Xhekaj<\/p>\n
Florian has played just five NHL games, which is a very small sample size to draw such definitive conclusions from.<\/p>\n
According to McCagg, two areas are still holding him back.<\/p>\n
His skating isn’t where it needs to be, and his aggressive style sometimes takes him out of position as he looks to finish every hit.<\/p>\n
That’s exactly why patience is the best approach, according to McCagg.<\/p>\n
Rushing him to the NHL could slow his development rather than accelerate it.<\/p>\n
The Laval Rocket remains the ideal place for him. He’ll play in every situation there, away from the pressure of the big club.<\/p>\n
His potential is not in question.<\/p>\n
And the Canadiens’ need for more physicality isn’t going away anytime soon.<\/p>\n
Now it’s up to Florian to prove to the organization that he’s the answer.<\/p>\n
Previously on Montreal Hockey Fanatics<\/p>\n
POLL<\/p>\n
2 HOURS AGO|112 ANSWERS<\/p>\n
A former Canadiens scout pours cold water on the Florian Xhekaj hype<\/p>\n
Should the Montreal Canadiens Be Patient With Florian Xhekaj Instead of Rushing Him?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images The playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes made one lingering…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631397,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[401,44542,5435,5,1527,21,40,4],"class_list":["post-631396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ahl","tag-employee","tag-florian-xhekaj","tag-hockey","tag-laval-rocket","tag-montreal-canadiens","tag-news","tag-nhl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116986833054881789","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631396","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=631396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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