LATEST: Canadiens Head Coach Martin St-Louis Blows Up On Arber Xhekaj

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Tyler Ball
December 4, 2023 (5:41 PM)

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Today a source reported that Arber Xhekaj's demotion has come after a moment that led Canadiens coach Martin St-Louis to rage at Arber Xhekaj.

Xhekaj's Aggression Leads To Demotion

Today former NHLer Georges Laraque spoke about the decision to send down Arber Xhekaj to the AHL. According to Laraque the move comes after Martin St-Louis chewed out Xhekaj for being too aggressive.

"Interesting story from @GeorgesLaraque: he says MSL apparently ripped into Xhekaj after an L for being too aggressive and since then, Xhekaj has changed his game out of fear of being left out

He then says that he wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't finish the year in Montreal."

The reprimand led Xhekaj to play less aggressively and get off of his game in fear of being benched.

Xhekaj Heads To The AHL To Find His Game

With his lackluster play, Xhekaj was officially demoted today in a surprising move.

The Canadiens have activated Arber Xhekaj off IR and loaned him to the Laval Rocket.

Xhekaj will head to the AHL for the first time in his professional career. This could allow Xhekaj to discover other parts of his game other than the physical side. If Xhekaj continues to only be a physical menace on the ice and over-aggressive he could hurt his NHL future.

If Xhekaj cannot carve out a role that Martin St-Louis believes is valuable he could be on his way out of Montreal. As the weeks go by the speculation will only continue to build more.

As Read On - Habs Fanatic - Major: Disturbing Scene as Martin St-Louis Loses His Temper Towards Arber Xhekaj