At the last NHL draft, the Montreal Canadiens announced that they had traded defenceman Alexander Romanov. This trade allowed the Canadiens to acquire forward Kirby Dach.
The Red-White-Blue has many young defensemen, so Romanov was no longer essential to the team. Arber Xhekaj is one of those who plays a similar style of play to Romanov.
Arber Xhekaj vs Alexander Romanov this season:
Two left-handers Age: 21 years old vs 22 years old Size: 6'4 & 238lbs vs 6'1 & 215lbs Strength: 49 hits vs 30 hits Points: 4pts in 14 games both Playing time: 15:37 vs 20:18 CF%: 52.2% vs. 46.4
You can see that both players have similar statistics, but Arber Xhekaj is taller and has more muscle mass. Xhekaj could become a more important defenseman than Romanov in the next few years, as the Canadiens' player is playing his first season in the National League and the Islanders' player is entering his third.