Unsigned Canadiens player drawing significant trade interest from the Flyers
Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
Arber Xhekaj remains unsigned in Montreal, and the honest read is simple: this standoff has no clock forcing either side to move.
David Pagnotta of Daily Faceoff said Thursday that Xhekaj and the Montreal Canadiens are still apart on price, with both sides working to close the gap.
He added that outside interest is real, and that the Philadelphia Flyers have chased this defenseman for years.
None of that is new, and that is exactly the point.
The detail that changes the story sits in the calendar.
Xhekaj declined salary arbitration before the July 5 deadline, so there is no hearing to force a number.
Unlike Kirby Dach, whose looming July 30 hearing helped push a deal, Xhekaj has no such trigger.
The leverage nobody is measuring
His role collapsed last season, and that matters more than any trade chatter.
Xhekaj averaged 11:25 a night, an all-time low, then just 8:06 across the playoffs and 1:52 in his final game.
A player with four points and shrinking minutes holds almost no leverage, which is why arbitration was never worth filing.
Why Bolduc decides this, not the Flyers
Kent Hughes signs his bigger contracts first, then divides whatever is left.
With Kirby Dach re-signed on July 16 at 3.6 million, reported by Elliotte Friedman, only Zachary Bolduc and Xhekaj remain.
Bolduc carries the higher upside, so he eats the priority dollars first.
Xhekaj's number cannot settle until Bolduc's does, and that is the real clock here.
An offer sheet is the one tool that could impose terms, and Philadelphia has the history to try it.
But a fourth-pairing role rarely justifies the draft-pick cost, so even that pressure stays mostly theoretical.
This is not a standoff about to break.
It is the least urgent file on Kent Hughes's desk, quietly waiting on Zachary Bolduc.
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