Montreal Canadiens Recall Defenseman Arber Xhekaj from AHL’s Laval Rocket

Defenseman Arber Xhekaj of the Montreal Canadiens has been called up from the American Hockey League’s Laval Rocket, the team announced on Monday.

Xhekaj joined the AHL team on December 4 after being activated off injured reserve.

Before suffering an upper-body injury in a game against the Vegas Golden Knights on November 16, the 22-year-old had one goal and two assists in 17 games with the Canadiens.

During his time with Laval, he appeared in 17 games with three goals and eight assists.

The Canadiens had waived forward Mitchell Stephens and transferred defenseman Justin Barron to Laval earlier.

This season, Barron has six goals and six assists for Montreal. In 23 games with the Canadiens, Stephens has two goals and one assist; in 16 games with the Rocket, he has three goals and nine assists.