Canadiens Fans React as Arber Xhekaj's True Trade Value Comes to Light

If Kent Hughes ever decides to involve him in a trade, we now have a better idea of his value on the market.

Since becoming GM of the Canadiens in January 2022, Kent Hughes has been very active and has completed several transactions, including deals involving Tyler Toffoli, Ben Chiarot, Brett Kulak, Mike Hoffman, Joel Edmundson, Artturi Lehkonen, Alexander Romanov, Sean Monahan, Jake Allen, and Jeff Petry.

In June 2022, he even managed to trade Shea Weber's contract to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for forward Evgenii Dadonov. A few months later, Dadonov left Montreal after being traded to the Dallas Stars for Denis Gurianov.

Kent Hughes' biggest move is certainly the Sean Monahan deal, which he acquired from the Calgary Flames along with a 2025 first-round pick for.. nothing at all! He then traded Monahan to the Winnipeg Jets for another 2024 first-round pick.

After a few pick moves, the Canadiens GM swapped his Jets pick for the Kings' pick to acquire Michael Hage. Then, he used his other first-round pick from the Flames to obtain Noah Dobson. This means a "free" Monahan ultimately helped the Canadiens acquire (in large part) Michael Hage and Noah Dobson. Hard to beat!

Our friends at DansLesCoulisses report something very interesting regarding Brian Wilde's appearance on Tony Marinaro's Sick Podcast.

According to Brian Wilde, Arber Xhekaj is currently worth a second-round pick. A return that isn't very appealing for Kent Hughes, who might reconsider if a team decides to raise the stakes by offering a first-round pick.

That said, we hope the Canadiens keep Xhekaj, as his role with the team is very important.