Flames have expressed interest in Canadiens' Xhekaj: report

The 2023-24 season may be over for the Calgary Flames but that doesn’t mean general manager (GM) Craig Conroy has stopped working.

Despite trading several roster players for mainly picks and prospects this past season, Conroy has been adamant that the Flames are retooling rather than going through a full-fledged rebuild. Doing so suggests that they would prefer to acquire young NHL talent rather than picks and/or prospects, and according to a recent report from David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, they have their eye on one in particular.

“For the Habs, we know Arber Xhekaj is pretty much off the table. As I reported last week, teams have continued to ask about him – including the Calgary Flames – but Hughes isn’t interested in moving him,” Pagnotta wrote. “I’m sure he’ll change his mind if someone is willing to really overpay, but for now, Xhekaj is part of Montreal’s plans moving forward.”

After seemingly coming out of nowhere and having a terrific rookie season in 2022-23, Xhekaj showed regression in 2023-24 and was even sent to the AHL for a brief period of time. Despite the hiccup, however, the 23-year-old still seems to be highly regarded by Canadiens management.

Xhekaj is currently a restricted free agent (RFA), with his three-year entry-level contract just wrapping up. Getting him re-signed shouldn’t be too difficult for GM Kent Hughes, who has just over $9 million in cap space, with deals to Tanner Pearson, Colin White, and Chris Wideman having all expired.

Trading for Xhekaj would make for a very crowded blue line in Calgary, as they already have MacKenzie Weegar, Rasmus Andersson, Daniil Miromanov, Joel Hanley, and Brayden Pachal under contract. Should they re-sign Oliver Kylington as expected, and perhaps even current RFA Nikita Okhotiuk, there will be a lot of bodies competing for spots, especially considering that prospects Ilya Solovyov and Jeremie Poirier also have legitimate shots.

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