Canadiens lose Arber Xhekaj for season, Christian Dvorak to return Tuesday

The Montreal Canadiens have announced that defenseman Arber Xhekaj is out for the rest of the season and will undergo shoulder surgery. The 23-year-old hasn’t played in almost a week and will have his left shoulder operated on. He is expected to be ready for training camp next season.

Xhekaj will finish his second NHL season with 44 games played and has tallied three goals and seven assists to go along with a +6 plus/minus. The native of Hamilton, Ontario saw his average ice time increase by about 40 seconds a game, and made some improvements to his defensive game, but still struggled with turnovers. The Canadiens did increase his powerplay ice time to roughly one minute per game, but he couldn’t capitalize on it and recorded no powerplay points this season.

In other Canadiens news, center Christian Dvorak will return to the lineup Tuesday for the first time since Dec. 30. The 28-year-old had surgery on Jan. 5 to repair a torn pectoral muscle and will dress against the Philadelphia Flyers. It’s been a tough stretch for Dvorak, as injuries and inconsistency have limited his impact this season. He has just three goals and four assists in 25 games. Dvorak was never an analytics darling but his underlying numbers have fallen off since joining the Canadiens three seasons ago.