Report: Is Arber Xhekaj Himself Holding Up A Potential Extension With Canadiens?

Montreal Canadiens restricted free agent Arber Xhekaj is still unsigned, only a couple of weeks before training camp opens. But while most of us felt that it was the team that was for some reason holding back on a reasonable offer, Eric Engels of Sportsnet suggests that it could actually be the Habs' tough guy himself who is reluctant to sign. 

Engels explains: 

I believe fair-value contract options are on the table for Xhekaj, but I also think he’s concerned about locking himself into anything with the Canadiens before having a clearer pathway to regular usage. 

Xhekaj thought it was coming last season after his best NHL training camp to date, but he stumbled out of the gate and never really found the balance he hoped to achieve.

Indeed, the rugged blueliner found himself a healthy scratch for 17 games, while playing a career-low 11:25 average ice time per night in the 65 games he did appear in. He still handed out 178 hits and racked up 116 penalty minutes. But his role was clearly far less than what he'd hoped after averaging about 15 minutes playing time per game in his first three years in Montreal.

He was also scratched from all five games against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Conference Final. 

"It wouldn’t be crazy for him to be reluctant about continuing in the same situation moving forward," added Engels. 

He added that that probably explains why Xhekaj didn’t file for arbitration when he was eligible. That would have left him locked in to a one or two year deal he might not have been happy with, with no guarantees of playing time. 

In the end, "I believe his main desire is to keep playing in Montreal, and I believe the Canadiens — who are in one of the nastiest divisions in hockey — want to keep him." But whether that winds up delaying him from the start of training camp remains to be seen.