Zachary Bolduc just got paid, and now Arber Xhekaj is staring at the exit door in Montreal.
The Canadiens signed Bolduc to a four-year deal worth 4.2M a season on Sunday, locking up a winger coming off a 30-point campaign in 78 games last year.
Good move on paper. Bolduc scored 12 goals, added 18 assists, and chipped in three power play goals for a Canadiens team that finished 48-24-10.
But here's the problem. That contract reportedly leaves Montreal with only 4.3M in cap space and a 22-man roster already close to full.
Xhekaj was still working on his entry-level money, carrying a 1.3M cap hit after posting four points in 65 games with a minus-8 rating last season.
He's a physical, penalty-killing defenseman general manager Kent Hughes has leaned on before. But term and money for a raise just got a lot harder to find.
Kent Hughes now has to make a decision most GMs dread. Does he clear a body to create breathing room, or does he let the roster get uncomfortably tight heading into camp?
Why Xhekaj becomes Montreal's cap casualty
Xhekaj's own second-half was rough too. Over his last 10 games he posted just one goal and a plus-3 rating, hardly the kind of production that forces a team's hand on a new contract.
Compare it to Alex Newhook, who quietly put up 25 points in only 42 games and looked like the better bet for future money. Priorities shift fast in a cap crunch.
Montreal's front office loves optionality. But optionality has a price, and right now that price might be Arber Xhekaj's spot on the blue line.
Martin St-Louis has built his identity around depth and structure on defense. Losing Xhekaj would strip some snarl from a group that already leans finesse over force.
Nothing is signed, sealed or announced. But the math doesn't lie, and 4.3M does not buy much room for a soon-to-be raise on a taxi squad already stretched thin.
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The Canadiens have decisions to make before training camp opens, and Xhekaj's name just moved to the top of that list.
Should the Canadiens trade Arber Xhekaj to make room for Zachary Bolduc's new deal?
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