Adam Engström to play in place of Arber Xhekaj tonight against Mammoth

Dose
Crédit: YouTube

Big news from the Canadiens.

Tonight… Arber Xhekaj will pass. Adam Engström will take his place in Martin St-Louis’ lineup.

Obviously, this will be the Swede’s first NHL game. He deserved his chance and now he has the opportunity to show what he’s got. I don’t hate it.

I can’t wait to see Engström in action.

He’s been excellent since the start of the season in Laval, and I hear he’s got a lot of confidence right now. Engström did pick up five points in his last AHL game: the defenseman is on a roll and the Canadiens obviously want to take advantage.

And against the Mammoth, it’s a good test for him.

We know that André Tourigny’s team has several quality forwards. And we know that Arber Xhekaj has struggled defensively in recent weeks with the Canadiens.

Engström is a more complete player. Has this prompted Martin St-Louis to make his decision?

One thing’s for sure, this news proves just how well Engström has developed since being selected 92nd overall in the 2022 draft.

He spent two years in Sweden fine-tuning his game, had a fine first pro season in North America in 24-25, performed well at the Canadiens’ camp this year, and got the AHL season off to a good start…

And now, tonight, he’ll be playing his first career game in the National League. I can’t wait to see what happens.

Extension

There’s something about all this that worries me.

I really hope this doesn’t break Arber Xhekaj, who already seems to have lost his mojo. To see him lose his confidence even more would be… really not ideal.