The Philadelphia Flyers’ not-so-big secret is that they want to get better on the back end. With the collection of defensemen they have now, there are some holes on the projected bottom pairing, and the big question mark of Rasmus Ristolainen and the reality that they are most likely not bringing him back when his contract ends at the end of next season — so who takes his spot in the top four?
It’s a goal that makes a whole lot of sense. They already targeted John Carlson but the free agent offensive defenseman chose Tampa over Philadelphia. They were involved in trade conversations surrounding Zach Werenski but the reigning Norris Trophy winner decided to stay in Columbus. Darnell Nurse was a real possibility until he opened up his trade list to include San Jose, and the Sharks gladly took on his entire contract. They Flyers have tried but now they’re heading into next season with the biggest addition possibly being David Jiricek on the blue line and he’s just there because he has lost his waiver exemption status.
Are the Flyers now looking elsewhere to make a move that would mean a much larger change? Well, according to some reports, they might just pull something off.
And by something we mean trading for 25-year-old Arber Xhekaj from the Montreal Canadiens.
Flyers reportedly have interest in Arber Xhekaj
Xhekaj has recently been in trade rumors simply for the fact that he is a restricted free agent and there is a bit of a stalemate in contract talks between the player and the Canadiens. He is coming off a two-year, $1.3-million AAV contract, so he’s not the most expensive player in the world, but there is no doubt that he is trying to cash in with the other young blueliner salaries exploding across the NHL.
With that, some teams are starting to circle Montreal to see if they can pry him away before they agree to a contract. According to David Pagnotta, the Flyers are one of those teams and they have been keeping an eye on the player’s availability for multiple years now.
“There are other teams, that have expressed over the last few weeks, interest in trading for Arber Xhekaj. But, the Canadiens have valued him for some time and they haven’t pulled the trigger because a) they haven’t found the deal they want, b) they want to keep the player. You have to convince them to make it happen,” Pagnotta said on DFO Rundown: Insider Edition earlier this week.
“Philadelphia has been one. They have had interest in him in the last couple of years, and still the case now. Nothing imminent on that front, yet.”
Well, that’s something.
While there is nothing imminent — mainly because, despite being eligible, Xhekaj did not file for arbitration so this might even stretch into training camp — it is certainly interesting that the Flyers are one of the teams targeting the 25-year-old.
The only problem is that it could end up being a total disaster.
It makes sense, but Xhekaj is the wrong target
Xhekaj is coming off a season where he scored one goal and earned three assists in 65 games. His career-high is 13 points and that was in his rookie year back in the 2022-23 season. Just last season, he averaged only 11:25 time-on-ice, almost four entire minutes fewer than his average in the three years prior. And with that decreased role (since the Canadiens were trying to win hockey games), he racked up a total of 116 penalty minutes. Maybe the lower amount of minutes per game was because he was spending half his shifts in the penalty box.
If there is anything to know of Xhekaj, if you are not familiar, it is that he likes to punch other players a lot.
It’s a wonderful sight to see, since we are all knuckle-dragging Neanderthals in our hearts. But is that someone you would bring in to have it be considered an “upgrade”?
He doesn’t score. Now that his team has turned the corner into regular playoff contention, he’s barely playing. His only elite talent is being able to fight and be the favorite against almost every single player in the world.
Does he even impact the game in a positive way? We are used to Radko Gudas doing a lot of that but actually providing some positive defensive value.
Sadly, no. Whether it’s Evolving-Hockey’s RAPM model, HockeyStats’ WAR model, Evolving-Hockey’s GAR model, HockeyViz’s sG model, or even just on-ice metrics like his 5-on-5 shot attempt share or expected goals share; no matter where you look he grades out as someone who is overrun by almost every single opponent he faces. The Canadiens are a worse team when he’s on the ice — therefore, the decrease in minutes this past season.
It’s not crazy to say that he would bring the exact same value that Nic Deslauriers did during his time in Philadelphia, but just on the blue line and younger and probably more expensive.
It would not even make sense to bring in Xhekaj as a free agent. But, the Flyers want to give up assets to get this player and then sign him to a bloated contract? Are you serious?
The idea in a vacuum isn’t crazy. It has been reported that the Flyers are cautious to trade Ristolainen because they don’t want to lose his physicality, since no one but Nick Seeler really brings that and he is a bottom-pairing player. So, do they think Xhekaj is more than that? Is he a top four guy to play next to Cam York as Jamie Drysdale gets a promotion to the top pair? How, in any world, would that be considered an upgrade?
To want to get some physicality makes sense. But to only get that, while not wanting someone that can hit guys but also break out the puck, or make offensive plays, or show some actual skill with possession, is going to force them to take a massive step backwards. There are players that fit that mold. That can play in the Flyers’ top four while bringing a solid level of offense and impacting the game positively, while also being able to truck dudes and make their bones crumble against the boards.
The Flyers might need to pay more than what it would take to get and sign Xhekaj to get that player, but it’s a much better option. Trading for Xhekaj would make this team a whole lot worse and have fans begging for the previous status quo.
Maybe now, we’re totally fine if the Flyers don’t do anything for the rest of the summer.
