Cowan: Canadiens prospect Florian Xhekaj really is a unicorn
Laval Rocket head coach Pascal Vincent described Florian Xhekaj's rookie season as 'remarkable.'
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It really was — especially for a 20-year-old forward who was selected in the fourth round (101st overall) at the 2023 NHL Draft. The Xhekaj name on the back of his sweater — and the tough-guy reputation his older brother Arber has established in the NHL with the Canadiens — made things even tougher.
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'Especially with his last name — there were expectations,' Vincent said about the younger Xhekaj last Friday when members of the Rocket met with the media for the last time this season after getting swept by the Charlotte Checkers in the Eastern Conference final. 'He hasn't played a game yet and the referees are already telling him: 'Relax.''
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It was sort of like being a Hanson brother in the classic Slap Shot movie from 1977.
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Vincent said he didn't have a lot of expectations for Xhekaj as an AHL rookie and added that nobody expected him to score 24 goals.
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But that's what 6-foot-4, 195-pounder did, to go along with 11 assists, a league-leading 175 penalty minutes and a plus-10 differential. Xhekaj was also learning to play centre after being a left-winger in junior with the OHL's Brantford Bulldogs, posting 34-31-65 totals in 63 games during the 2023-24 season to go along with 81 penalty minutes and a plus-17.
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'He scored a lot of goals,' Vincent said about Xhekaj's rookie season in the AHL. 'His shot is amazing. He's got a quick release, accurate, too. But I didn't know about his brain and, to me, that's the thing that intrigues me the most. How they (young players) manage expectations. How they manage and how can they apply info that we give them and to do it right away on the ice or how long does it take for you to gather the info and execute on the ice at a very high speed. For me to see Flo gathering those informations and teachings and to do it on the ice and to execute at the speed he did in his first year with his last name — because the other teams on the other side, they know — this kid has this confidence and he's walking the line. He's not cocky, but he's confident that he can be the man. He's still physically not there yet, but in his mind … so I was quite impressed with him.
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