Canadiens Trade Rumors: Division Rival Interested in Arber Xhekaj - NHL  Trade Rumors - NHLTradeRumors.Me

The head coach of the Montreal Canadiens, Martin St-Louis, challenged his young defenseman, Arber Xhekaj, before last night’s game against the St. Louis Blues.

In a press conference, he was tough on his rugged defenseman, stating that Xhekaj was no longer a rookie and simply had to be better.

Rarely had we seen St-Louis be so blunt toward a player in a press conference.

In short, last night in his post-game press conference, MSL was immediately questioned about Xhekaj by the journalists present.

Martin St-Louis Comments on Arber Xhekaj’s Game Against the St. Louis Blues

Here’s a summary of his response.

«I think he (Arber Xhekaj) was excellent throughout the game… The things we discussed that kept him from playing, I felt like tonight he was very engaged in applying everything we worked on in our discussions. So I’m happy for him.»

– Coach Martin St-Louis

It seems like the Sheriff will be back in the lineup tonight, against the Flyers live from Philadelphia, but we’ll have to wait for official confirmation.

 

 

It’s promising for what lies ahead, especially since Xhekaj also had a tougher start last season before bouncing back to finish strong.

Who knows? Perhaps, in the end, Martin St-Louis knew how to press the right buttons to give a good «wake-up call» to his 6-foot-4, 240-pound defenseman.

In your opinion, when Kaiden Guhle returns, which defenseman should be the odd man out between Logan Mailloux, Jayden Struble, and Arber Xhekaj? It will be a very interesting decision for Martin St-Louis.