Calgary's retreat could let Metropolitan Division team force Montreal's hand on Arber Xhekaj

It quietly handed the Philadelphia Flyers a cheaper way in.

Herb Zurkowsky of the Montreal Gazette reported that the Calgary Flames and Flyers were both linked to the Montreal Canadiens defenceman this summer, with Calgary's interest tracing back to last season's deadline.

Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff then reported the Flames no longer view Xhekaj as a fit after acquiring Jake Middleton from the Minnesota Wild.

That tracks on the ice. Middleton is a left shot with three years left at $4.35 million, slotting beside Kevin Bahl and Yan Kuznetsov on Calgary's left side.

Xhekaj did not file for salary arbitration by the July 5 deadline.

Players who file forfeit the right to sign an offer sheet, and Xhekaj kept his.

That means he stays offer-sheet eligible until December 1, and Danny Brière is the one general manager who has already used that tool this summer.

The Flyers tendered Leo Carlsson a five-year, $90 million sheet on July 3. Anaheim matched, so Philadelphia paid nothing and still holds four first-round picks.

Brière has said he is comfortable opening the season with his current lineup.

The compensation scale barely bites here. The 2026 tiers start at $1,575,970, and a raise for a third-pairing defenceman sits on the bottom rungs.

Kent Hughes matches that instantly. The damage is the number itself, because a matched sheet locks in term and dollars Montreal never wanted to carry.

Montreal's blue line already houses Noah Dobson, Lane Hutson, Kaiden Guhle, Alexandre Carrier and Jayden Struble, with David Reinbacher pushing from behind. An inflated seventh defenceman becomes an asset Hughes has to move.

So Philadelphia may not need to win a bidding war.

It only needs to set the price.

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