Joel Edmundson's return to action seems fairly imminent, even though many expected him to return during last Saturday's game in St. Louis. Of course, when number 44 finally gets the green light from the doctors to return to the lineup, there will definitely be a defenseman who will have to step aside for him. On this subject, on the airwaves of 98.5 Sports, former goalie coach Stéphane Waite made a statement that caused quite a stir. According to him, Arber Xhekaj would most likely be the one who would be bailed out when Edmundson returns to the lineup. He also added the name of Chris Wideman as another possibility. <If Edmundson returns, Stephane Waite is considering taking Wideman or Xhekaj out of the lineup ahead of Kovacevic: I know we've been ''high'' on Xhekaj, but he makes a lot of mistakes. -Stephane Waite</q> Clearly, such a decision would be greatly opposed by the club's fans who have literally fallen in love with the colossal defenseman. Has his play really become as problematic as Waite points out? It seems pretty obvious that it hasn't, but it's true that Edmundson's defenseman profile is very similar to the 21-year-old rookie. If he doesn't get the axe when Eddy returns, it's quite possible he'll have to give up his spot when Michael Matheson returns soon. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/985Sports/status/1587257795719692290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1587257795719692290%7Ctwgr%5Eae2418c7f6efa18ed4adeff1e8569cbbb69cb294%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.habsetlnh.com%2FArber-Xhekaj-retire-de-alignement-des-Canadiens-de-Montreal-avec-une-brigade-defensive-en-sante-Cest-ce-que-semble-croire-Stephane-Waite-171375%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR015Ar5dvv8cCz78jA7H1b8EcPcVBW-Jdt6-GXYVYCWd9UEp0uEFLYOa2A'> </a></blockquote></div> Credit: <a href='https://www.habsetlnh.com/Arber-Xhekaj-retire-de-alignement-des-Canadiens-de-Montreal-avec-une-brigade-defensive-en-sante-Cest-ce-que-semble-croire-Stephane-Waite-171375?fbclid=IwAR015Ar5dvv8cCz78jA7H1b8EcPcVBW-Jdt6-GXYVYCWd9UEp0uEFLYOa2A' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Habs & NHL</a>