{"id":640339,"date":"2026-08-10T15:10:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T15:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/640339\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T15:10:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T15:10:19","slug":"former-canadiens-scout-says-arber-xhekaj-could-be-the-key-to-a-major-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/640339\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Canadiens scout says Arber Xhekaj could be the key to a major trade"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\t\t\t\t\t \"Montreal <\/p>\n

Photo credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

At least one of the Canadiens’ left-shot defensemen will have to be traded.<\/p>\n

And Arber Xhekaj<\/a> would make the most sense in a short-term trade, according to Grant McCagg, a former Montreal Canadiens scout.<\/p>\n

The analyst weighed in on the logjam on the Canadiens’ blue line, and his thinking unfortunately lines up with many of the discussions surrounding Xhekaj’s future.<\/p>\n

There are more and more rumblings pointing in that direction.<\/p>\n

His reasoning comes down to Xhekaj’s value.<\/p>\n

McCagg believes Xhekaj could bring back the biggest return among the team’s left-shot defensemen.<\/p>\n

It’s an interesting angle.<\/p>\n

Rather than viewing Xhekaj’s departure as a \u201closs,\u201d McCagg sees him as an asset capable of bringing back a major return at the right time.<\/p>\n

His physicality and reputation make him a sought-after commodity around the NHL.<\/p>\n

Few defensemen bring that kind of physical presence, which boosts his value on the trade market.<\/p>\n

The Canadiens have no shortage of left-shot defensemen, creating a logjam that is becoming difficult for Kent Hughes to manage.<\/p>\n

Arber Xhekaj could help Kent Hughes fill a major need<\/p>\n

McCagg took his analysis one step further.<\/p>\n

According to him, the Canadiens don’t have many holes in their lineup.<\/p>\n

That’s a luxury that changes the way Kent Hughes can approach future trades:<\/p>\n

“When they do make a trade, it should be to specifically fill one of them,” he said.<\/p>\n

In other words, the Canadiens shouldn’t trade Xhekaj \u201cjust\u201d for the sake of trading him.<\/p>\n

A deal has to bring back a piece that addresses a real need, such as a center or a right-shot defenseman.<\/p>\n

The Canadiens are looking for a second-line center and a second-pair right-shot defenseman.<\/p>\n

Xhekaj could become the ideal trade chip to help fill one of those needs, at least as part of a larger package.<\/p>\n

And you, what do you think about all of this?<\/p>\n

Previously on Montreal Hockey Fanatics<\/p>\n

POLL<\/p>\n

AOUT 9|738 ANSWERS<\/p>\n

Former Canadiens scout says Arber Xhekaj could be the key to a major trade<\/p>\n

Should the Canadiens trade Arber Xhekaj to address a specific need?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Photo credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images At least one of the Canadiens’ left-shot defensemen will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":640340,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5103],"tags":[407,69858,265,23778,5,1749,264,21,5147,4,65684],"class_list":["post-640339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal-canadiens","tag-arber-xhekaj","tag-blue-line-congestion","tag-canadiens","tag-grant-mccagg","tag-hockey","tag-kent-hughes","tag-montreal","tag-montreal-canadiens","tag-montrealcanadiens","tag-nhl","tag-trade-value"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/117071854261000992","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640339","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=640339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}