Canadiens enforcer Arber Xhekaj will be traded according to former player.

It is only a matter of time before the Montreal Canadiens trade popular enforcer Arber Xhekaj... at least according to one former Canadiens player.

There has been a growing narrative around Xhekaj over the last few weeks as he has been made a healthy scratch by head coach Martin St. Louis, a narrative that could soon lead to a trade according to a pretty well connected source. The rumor comes from none other than fellow enforcer Georges Laraque, who recently made comments suggesting that Xhekaj will eventually be shipped off to another team in the National Hockey League.

"There are teams interested in his services and if they get him he won’t be coming out of the lineup like he does in Montreal," said Laraque as per the Montreal Gazette.

Making things even spicier is that Laraque appeared to hint at the fact that both the player and his agent may be well aware of this, perhaps an indication that Xhekaj and his agent aren't exactly happy with the healthy scratches this season.

"Xhekaj knows this and so does his agent," added Laraque.

Most damning of all though was Laraque's assertion that it is only a matter of time before a trade materializes.

"The Canadiens will eventually trade Arber Xhekaj," said Laraque.

It would seem that, if the Canadiens do move on from the ultra-popular enforcer, the good news is that there will be a market for his services. According to NHL insider Darren Dreger, there would be a massive amount of interest in Xhekaj from around the league which could in turn result in a good return for the Canadiens.

"If Kent Hughes ever decided to put Arber Xhekaj on the trade block, there'd be double-digit teams interested in Arber Xhekaj," said Dreger.

Will the Canadiens actually pull the trigger on a trade involving Xhekaj? That will likely depend on the kind of offers they are receiving from around the league, but truly only time will tell.