2023-08-31 05:10:21
Montreal Canadiens prospect Florian Xhekaj has an offensive explosion this year. Arber’s younger brother landed at the Brantford Bulldogs (formerly Hamilton) camp visibly bigger, hovering perilously close to 6-foot-4, and more confident than ever in possession of the puck.
“He has gained considerably in mass and physical strength. You’re going to see a much better offensive output from him this season. I would like to give you a comparison with an NHL player, but I have seen so much growth in him that I refrain from putting limits on his potential, ”says the Bulldogs head coach. , Jay McKee.
Fifteen-year-old Florian Xhekaj, an unremarkable little forward at around 5-foot-9, was nothing short of sexy to the scouts who spied on him in Hamilton’s AAA with the Junior Bulldogs. In the OHL draft, said scouts passed their turn.
It was only at 18 years old – after a detour in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League – that he made the jump to the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and ended up convincing the Montreal Canadiens to draft him in the fourth tower despite modest statistics. Many observers wonder what the Habs could have seen in him, but there was one fact that the organization knew and took into consideration: the Xhekaj gene.
Xhekaj do not develop exactly like everyone else. If there is a genetic predisposition associated with late hatching, you will most likely find it in this line. From the age of 19 or 20, a Xhekaj takes his wanders to go. As soon as this click occurs, the progression is exponential.
The first signs of this spectacular and lightning growth appeared in Florian when he arrived at the Bulldogs camp in Brantford. His trainer could pass you a paper.
“When he arrived at camp, he was now our biggest player. He’s 6-foot-3 now, but he needs to get closer to 6-foot-4. His skating is better. In terms of confidence, we are on another level. He looks like another player on the ice right now. He grabs the puck and controls it in the offensive zone instead of trying to pass it immediately to a teammate.
CH’s competitive advantage
Le clic de Florian is a film that McKee has already seen. McKee is, after all, the man who coached Arber Xhekaj in his first season in the OHL with the Kitchener Rangers.
“We used Arber on offense because he was having trouble in the defensive zone,” he recalls. What we had identified in Arber, who was also ignored in the OHL draft, was first of all that he skated well for a big guy. Then during the 3v3 exercises, he showed that he had good hands, which is rather rare in a player of this stature.
“Florian gives me a similar impression. Both move well and have flexible hands. Arber didn’t start dominating the OHL until he was 19 or 20 years old. Many NHL teams were interested in Florian. They knew what tangent Arber’s development had taken.”
The Canadians caused a surprise by jumping on Florian in the fourth round of the 2023 draft, with the 101st selection overall. However, if they had waited a little longer, it might have been too late.
What you need to know is that the CH had a competitive advantage. The connection with the Xhekaj already existed, of course. But we can not ignore the fact that Matt Turek, the former recruiter of the CH in Ontario, the same one who had spotted Arber, is since last year general manager of the Bulldogs. And Bulldogs owner Michael Andlauer was a minority shareholder in CH until recently before buying the Ottawa Senators.
In short, if there was a hidden talent in the Bulldogs, it could hardly escape the Canadians. And it’s certainly a factor that gave them the confidence to get ahead of the other teams and draft Florian earlier than expected, sensing an enticing latent potential.
Hands and a shot
Because if the most cynical criticize the CH for having drafted Florian out of nepotism, to select the brother of the other and listen to the recommendations of friends of the organization, the Canadians see real skills in this attacker.
Skills that his coach at the Bulldogs was kind enough to present to us.
“He’s got really good hands and a fantastic shot,” McKee said. He plays tenaciously. There are a lot of imponderables in his game, he really manages to annoy the other team. He is not easy to face and even when he does not put points on the board, he is very effective.
Let’s talk about these points and this harvest of 13 goals and 12 assists in 68 games that leaves many hungry, especially at 18 in an offensive league like the OHL.
“You have to consider that we won a championship the previous year, we were in reconstruction last year, underlines McKee. We have traded several of our best players to recover elements that we had sacrificed to be aggressive in 2021-2022. I believe we were the youngest team in the league past the trade deadline.
“Florian’s production was probably lower than expected due to this factor. This year, all of our attackers, with one exception, will be back. Everyone will bank on an extra year of experience. It was also his first year in the OHL, he will now have had time to adjust to our system and our pace of play.
And despite all these factors, it always comes back to the most important: the Xhekaj gene. It is not at 18 that one asserts oneself in this family.
Let’s leave the final word to the co-director of amateur recruiting of the Canadiens Martin Lapointe, who seemed very familiar with this famous embarrassment when he spoke to members of the press at the end of the draft.
“We know the family. We know Arber. The apple never falls far from the tree. Florian is very combative and he will improve from year to year. We believe in his talent.”
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