The story leading up to Arber Xhekaj's contract signing is mind-blowing. You could almost say it's a Hollywood script with the main message of believing in your dreams. Since the beginning of camp and the season, the big defenseman has been turning heads. His game isn't perfect, no, but Xhekaj knows how to play to his strengths, just like a former Tricolore defenseman. Indeed, defensemen coach Stephane Robidas compared Xhekaj to one of his former teammates with the Habs, a certain Sheldon Souray. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/StuCowan1/status/1585310655103369229?t=p9G-wPGWhb441i7vlZttRA&s=19'> </a></blockquote></div> Souray had some great years in Montreal. Many say that Andrei Markov helped him a lot, which is not wrong. But the former number 44 was a real warrior, tough and not afraid to throw down the gloves most of the time. Robidas adds that the young Xhekaj is a much better skater than Souray, which is a big plus in today's NHL. It remains to be seen if the current number 72 can polish his game enough to get ice time on the power play like Souray, although we suspect the comparison is not in goals, but in strong play and policing on the ice.