The Maple Leafs showed interest in Arber Xhekaj before the defenseman eventually chose the Montreal Canadiens.
Xhekaj appeared on Spittin’ Chiclets last week and looked back on the early days of his hockey career. The defenseman discussed working at Costco, playing junior hockey, and how he chose which team to go to as a free agent after he wasn’t drafted.
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“After the draft [in 2021], didn’t get picked again. I think Toronto called me, Florida called me, and then that was it. So me and my agent were talking and we were checking the prospect pool, we were like, ‘Okay, let’s go to Florida, let’s go to Florida,'” Xhekaj said.
“And then, after that, I was like, ‘Wait, just give it a second, like, wait a few days.’ And [my agent] was like, ‘No, we can’t keep the NHL teams waiting.’ And I was like, ‘Just give it a second, something’s coming,’ because I knew Montreal was super interested. And that’s my favourite team, that’s where I wanted to go.
“They ended up calling me and saying, like, ‘Trust me, come to our camp, you do well, good things are going to happen.'”
Xhekaj also revealed how he obtained an entry-level contract from the Canadiens and what he said to his parents in Montreal when the contract was offered in Oct. 2021. In the 23-year-old’s rookie season, he had five goals, eight assists, and 159 hits — second among Canadiens players — in 51 games.
With Xhekaj revealing that Toronto was interested in him, it begs the question of how the Maple Leafs’ defense could’ve looked with him in the mix. It’s unlikely he would’ve been given the same opportunity in Toronto with the likes of Timothy Liljegren, and at the time, Rasmus Sandin still developing as NHLers.
One year before the Maple Leafs showed interest in Xhekaj, the Maple Leafs picked defensemen Topi Niemela (64th overall), William Villeneuve (122nd overall), Axel Rindell (177th overall) and John Fusco (189th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft.
Related: Counting Down the Top 10 Maple Leafs Prospects in 2024: No. 3 – Topi Niemela
Toronto’s last defender selected in the draft to play NHL games with the club was Sandin, who was picked 29th overall in the 2018 NHL Draft. Filip Kral and Mac Hollowell, who were picked later in the same draft, appeared in 8 NHL games with the Maple Leafs, but are no longer with the club.
Sean Durzi was also selectedby Toronto in 2020 but never played an NHL game with the organization. He’s appeared in 212 games split between the Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyotes (now the Utah Hockey Club).
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