While Florian Xhekaj has only just signed his entry-level contract (ELC) with the Montreal Canadiens, his older brother Arber Xhekaj has now finished his ELC and will become a restricted free agent at noon. Considering how many times we’ve heard that teams were enquiring about the older Xhekaj, Canadiens’ general manager Kent Hughes would do well to sign him in a hurry.
The Older Xhekaj’s Contractual History
After going undrafted in the NHL Draft, Xhekaj made quite an impression on then-Montreal GM Marc Bergevin who offered him an ELC with a $828,333 average annual value out of camp in 2021. That contract is set to expire today. There’s absolutely no doubt Hughes wants to sign him to a new contract, but it seems like the negotiations are not exactly going well.
With no new deal signed, Xhekaj has decided to fire his agent Victor Saljanin and hire Scott Bartlett of Bartlett agency. Saljanin doesn’t have a single client left, as the younger brother follows him out the door.
What Can This Mean?
Generally speaking, a player will not fire his agent during contract negotiations, unless he’s unhappy with how the talks are progressing. Changing his agent on the eve of free agency is not exactly a great idea either. I expect it’s been some time since negotiations started. If they weren’t going to his satisfaction, it would have been smarter to replace him earlier.
Now the Canadiens have next to no time to reach an understanding with the new agent and while they did tender a qualifying offer to Xhekaj to ensure he doesn’t become an unrestricted free agent, he can still be tendered an offer sheet from another team.
Montreal Can Simply Match It
You’re thinking it won’t be too high and the Canadiens will be able to match it? That’s true, but only in theory. See, Hughes is a methodical man and he’s aware that each signing can influence the next one.
Related: Canadiens GM Kent Hughes Remains Firm on Keeping Arber Xhekaj
While Justin Barron is the team’s only other RFA who has been tendered a qualifying offer, next year, Kaiden Ghule, Jordan Harris and Jayden Struble will all come knocking on the door for their new contract. If you give Xhekaj too much money, what must you give to Guhle? If you give more than what you thought to Guhle, how much will you have to give Juraj Slafkovsky, because he will also be up for a new contract then?
Then there will also be the small matter of making future contracts fit in, you know, Lane Hutson, Logan Mailloux and Ivan Demidov? If you bust your budget, you end up having to shed salary to keep going. Ideally, you want to have won at least a Stanley Cup before you get to that point, otherwise, you may have lost a vital ingredient in the team’s success and sooner rather than later, your core will come tumbling down like a house of cards. I cannot stress enough how important this negotiation with Xhekaj is to the team’s financial health and Hughes won’t budge easily…
The salary cap is a wonderful tool to ensure owners are not paying too much money, but simultaneously, it ends up ensuring a successful team cannot stay together forever. It’s great for the parity of the game, but not so great for the fans of a championship-winning team. Speaking of fans, while a GM cannot let the franchise’s fans dictate his decision, it’s a good idea to keep them on your side. If you don’t, they might just stop coming to the games. Not in Montreal though I guess, but Xhekaj is not only beloved by fans, he’s also a very popular figure on the team and angering your players is never the right way to go.
