Elliotte Friedman spoke about a possible link between the Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens on Monday’s edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast. During the show, he and co-host Jeff Marek got into a conversation about a report Friedman made on Saturday suggesting the Canadiens were shooting down trade offers for Arber Xhekaj. That doesn’t mean teams aren’t still interested.
Among the teams Friedman is linking to the defenseman, the NHL insider said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if Philly was one of those teams, I don’t know if it was a (Cutter) Gauthier deal or something else, but it makes a lot of sense.” He adds, “If Xhekaj is not going to be a Canadien, man he’s a Flyer.” He says he thinks the Flyers are one of the teams kicking tires, but to date, the Canadiens have said no.
Friedman reported during the Saturday Headlines segment on Hockey Day in Canada.
“From what I’ve heard a number of teams have called Montreal and said, ‘well since he’s down there, does that mean you’re opinion on him has changed and he could be available?’ I understand from Montreal it’s been a flat ‘no’ about Xhekaj, and there have been a couple of teams that have asked.”
Canadiens Should At Least Talk to the Flyers
Montreal currently has depth on the blue line. With Mike Matheson, David Savard, Kaiden Guhle, Struble, Jordan Harris, Johnathan Kovacevic and Justin Barron and Logan Mailloux, the Canadiens could potentially afford to trade Xhekaj if the offer is strong.
Xhekaj continues to dominate in the AHL — he has 11 pts in 17 games — a guy like him could be worth every penny if he finds his game again at the NHL level. He brings a ton of intangibles and his style of right up the alley of the Flyers. In addition, the Flyers have been an active team on the trade market this season. They added Jamie Drysdale and if they were able to swing a deal for another young and talented defenseman, it would be a huge swing for their blue line.
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