Now that the 2024-25 season is over, it’s time to reflect on what went on this year for the Montreal Canadiens, what went wrong, what went right, and how each member of the organization contributed.

Canadiens: The Grades Are In – Lane Hutson
Canadiens: The Grades Are In – Goaltending Edition
Canadiens: The Grades Are In – Kent Hughes

The Habs’ young blueline improved by leaps and bounds this past season. Yes, Lane Hutson had an impact, but it wasn’t all down to him. Fresh off signing a new two-year pact, Arber Xhekaj was hoping to become a regular on the Canadiens’ blueline, and while he didn’t get to play in all the games, he did feature in 70 of the regular season’s tilts. By far his most significant contribution, he had only played 51 games in his rookie season and 44 as a sophomore. Was it a perfect season for him? No, but it was still a better season.

Not from a production point of view, he only registered six points, but from the standpoint of becoming a more complete player. It’s a well-known fact across the league that Xhekaj can fight with the best of them, but it takes more than that to find a home in the NHL, and the elder Xhekaj knows it.

This season, he worked on his decision-making because there was room for improvement. A well-placed bone-crushing hit will always be crowd-pleasing, but coach-pleasing? Not so much. There’s a place and a time to get physical, and the gritty defenseman is learning that.

The NHL is a fast league, and if you take yourself out of the play to hit an opponent, there’s a good chance the decision will hurt your team even more. Xhekaj has had to learn the hard way, and Martin St-Louis has him on a very short leash. To use one of the bench boss’s expressions, he has often “paid cash” for his mistakes, but you could tell from his end-of-season availability that he understands what the coach is trying to do.

Xhekaj may be a project, but I see him as worthy. Having a player who can ruffle some feathers is a necessary evil. Hockey is a tough sport, and it will always be. This season, I believe Xhekaj deserves a C plus. There were some costly lapses in concentration, and the decision-making isn’t quite there yet, but I believe it will get there.

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