Arber Xhekaj must be living the dream right now. A player who came out of nowhere, now plays in the best league in the world and becomes a crowd favorite, on the most decorated team in history. Just imagine how the defenseman must feel! Even though he makes mistakes, his play is amazing, both defensively and offensively, and what can I say about his physicality. Simply incredible. The Habs have another imposing defenseman, with similar qualities to Xhekaj, who plays in the NCAA. Jean-Charles Lajoie and Anthony Martineau had a lively debate about whether Xhekaj or Jayden Struble is better. <q>Xhekaj is getting a lot of games ahead. He's selling a lot of tickets and becoming a darling in Montreal. We're finding out that he's a furiously good hockey player, whose progression over the last two years has been exponential, a progression that we haven't measured in Struble. - JiC</q> According to Martineau, Struble has superior qualities to Xhekaj and could be a nice surprise as well, provided he is in the right chair. <q>If you expect Struble to be a mobile, good rebounding, physical fifth or sixth defenseman, he's going to meet your expectations. Struble is more mobile than Xhekaj, is better offensively than Xhekaj. - Anthony Martineau</q> <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/TVASports/status/1601008394738900992?t=ffmg-nMYrJXZwAZP2sG3-g&s=19'> </a></blockquote></div> Struble is expected to sign his NHL entry-level contract in 2023. Obviously, the fact that he plays in the NCAA doesn't allow us to adequately compare him to Xhekaj, but both defensemen have similar qualities that could help the Habs for years to come. Credit: <a href='https://www.fanadiens.com/Le-Canadien-pourrait-posseder-un-espoir-superieur-a-Arber-Xhekaj-186250' class='link_marker' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Canadians.com</a>