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Why does Arber Xhekaj get so few minutes when he plays? I get that special-teams time can skew his minutes, but what gives?
Angst on X — @Angst79799255
The fact Xhekaj doesn’t get special-teams minutes is definitely a factor. He has 12 seconds of total power-play time this season and 15:42 on the penalty-kill. The recent return of Kaiden Guhle to the lineup after recovering from surgery for a partially torn adductor muscle that sidelined him for three months will also cut back on Xhekaj’s ice time.
The Canadiens’ top four defencemen — Mike Matheson (24:46), Lane Hutson (23:47), Noah Dobson (22:45) and Guhle (18:25) — average a lot of minutes per game, which doesn’t leave a lot for Xhekaj as the sixth defenceman behind Alexandre Carrier, who is averaging 19:35 (including 3:11 per game short-handed). Xhekaj is averaging 11:32 of ice time per game.
Xhekaj had 13:38 of ice time in Thursday night’s 7-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche — with a team-leading four hits and a minus-1 differential — after playing less than 10 minutes in four of the five previous games with Guhle back in the lineup. Head coach Martin St. Louis obviously doesn’t trust Xhekaj defensively in some situations, but I believe he realizes how important the 6-foot-4, 240-pound defenceman’s physical presence is in the lineup. That’s why Xhekaj has only been a healthy scratch six times this season, while Jayden Struble has been scratched 15 times.
The Sherrif Arber Xhekaj is in the building pic.twitter.com/r63byPz7OB— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) January 29, 2026
The reality of being a sixth defenceman on an NHL team is that you’re not going to get a lot of ice time — especially with a strong top four ahead of you. Keaton Middleton, the sixth defenceman for the Avalanche, had 12:58 of ice time Thursday night against the Canadiens.
On another note, happy birthday to Xhekaj, who turned 25 on Friday.
Should the Habs kick the tires on the New York Rangers’ Artemi Panarin? Swandad on Bluesky — @swandad.bsky.social They should and I’m pretty sure they will, because it was Canadiens president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton who signed Panarin to a seven-year, US$81.5-million contract as a free agent on July 1, 2019, when he was general manager of the Rangers. This is the last season of that contract with a salary-cap hit of US$11.64 million and the 34-year-old Panarin can become an unrestricted free agent again on July 1. Panarin was scratched from the lineup for the second straight game Thursday night when the Rangers lost 2-1 to the New York Islanders for “asset protection purposes” in anticipation of a coming trade. Panarin is not expected to play in the Rangers’ last two games before the Olympic break as GM Chris Drury looks to make a trade with New York in a rebuilding mode again. Panarin has a full no-movement clause in his contract and his agent has been given permission by the Rangers to negotiate an extension with any team he would be willing to waive his no-movement clause to play for.
Artemi Panarin’s final stats as a Ranger: – 482 games – 205 goals (14th) – 402 assists (8th) – 607 points (9th) One of the best free agent signings of all time and certainly one of the best Rangers of my lifetime. Thank you for everything #NYR pic.twitter.com/0C3z8U5Y3R— Lafreniere For MVP (Fire Drury) (@Laf4MVP_) January 28, 2026
Panarin leads the Rangers in scoring this season with 19-38-57 totals in 52 games. Gorton knows what he would be getting in Panarin as a player and a person after doing his research as GM of the Rangers, but the Russian winger’s age would be a concern as well as what the Rangers would be asking for in return. But it’s definitely worth kicking the tires as the Canadiens continue to look for a winger to play on the No. 1 line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. Players with Panarin’s offensive skills don’t become available very often. What’s the status of Patrik Laine? Corrado on Bluesky — @950003.bsky.social When Laine had surgery for a core-muscle injury in late October, the Canadiens said he would be out for three to four months. Laine is back practising with his teammates in a full-contact sweater, but I don’t imagine he will play again until after the Olympic break — if the Canadiens have a spot in the lineup for him at that point. This is the last season of the 27-year-old winger’s contract with an US$8.7 million salary-cap hit and he can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. The Canadiens might want to get Laine back in the lineup just to showcase him for a possible trade since I don’t believe he has a future with the team beyond this season. Moving Laine — which won’t be easy — would free up cap space if the Canadiens are interested in Panarin.
Ivan Demidov finds Patrik Laine on the power play! 🚨We think we might be saying this again during the regular season… pic.twitter.com/nyLis9s55C— NHL (@NHL) September 26, 2025
“He’s in a unique situation,” teammate Brendan Gallagher said this week about Laine. “He is still ahead of schedule from where he was. His recovery’s been going really well, but I think they want to be sure. For him, he worked really hard to get himself back in this situation. The closer it gets, the more exciting, so you’re happy for a guy like that.” What NHL rules apply and when do players need to report back to their teams from the Olympic break? What happens to injured players and their treatments during this break? And might some Montreal players be sent down to the AHL? Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y. The Canadiens will play their final game before the Olympic break on Wednesday, Feb. 4, against the Jets in Winnipeg and won’t play again until Feb. 26, when the Islanders will be at the Bell Centre. The NHL has an Olympic roster freeze that kicks in at 3 p.m. on Feb. 4 and runs through 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 22. The Olympic hockey tournament runs from Feb. 11 to 22. The Canadiens could send players down to the AHL’s Laval Rocket if they want, but waiver rules would be in effect. I’d be surprised if they send any players down to Laval — including those who don’t need waivers — preferring to give them a break. Injured players can still use the team’s facilities and staff.
Big ovation for captain Nick Suzuki as #Habs honour their players who are headed to Olympics. pic.twitter.com/WeaiX83gl3— Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) January 30, 2026
The Canadiens will have four players at the Olympics — Suzuki (Canada), Juraj Slafkovsky (Slovakia), Oliver Kapanen (Finland) and Alexandre Texier (France). The rest of the players will have a 12-day break before returning to Brossard to practise on Feb. 17. There are practices scheduled every day in Brossard (with the exception of the annual skills competition on Sunday, Feb. 22, at the Bell Centre) ahead of the game against the Islanders on Feb. 26. Certain voices online think that goalie coach Eric Raymond is the one responsible for the bad play of Samuel Montembeault and Cayden Primeau last year — and even Jakub Dobes at times — and that Marco Marciano would be a lot better. What do you think? Dick Labete Canadiens management obviously thought Raymond was part of the problem, which is why they fired him on Wednesday and promoted Marciano from Laval on an interim basis. That doesn’t mean Raymond is a bad coach. All coaches — even goalie coaches — are hired to be fired. At least the Canadiens didn’t fire Raymond during the middle of a game — like former GM Marc Bergevin did when he fired goalie coach Stéphane Waite five years ago in the second intermission during a period when Carey Price was struggling in goal. Waite had been the Canadiens’ goalie coach for eight years.
Le nouvel entraîneur des gardiens, Marco Marciano, au travail avec Samuel Montembeault et Jakub Dobes@RDSca pic.twitter.com/UdClO6DXPd— Patrick Friolet (@PFrioletRDS) January 28, 2026
Raymond was in his fifth season with the Canadiens after being hired by Bergevin. Marciano has a very good relationship with Dobes from their time together in Laval, which was probably part of the reason for Raymond’s firing. Marciano also worked with Montembeault in junior with the QMJHL’s Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and after the Canadiens sent him down to Laval before Christmas. “This is an unfortunate part of the business,” Gorton said after firing Raymond. “Eric’s done a lot of good things for us. We’ve had some success with the goalies under Eric, so this is not a one-person reflection. This is just an organizational decision that we made to have a new voice. “Marco has history with our goalies, some success, so we just felt like at this time it was the right move,” Gorton added. scowan@postmedia.com x.com/StuCowan1 If you have a question you’d like to ask for the weekly Habs Mailbag, you can email it to montrealcanadiens@postmedia.com
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