For the first time in his young career, Arber Xhekaj will play in the American League.

Monday morning, the Canadian announced that they had sold the defender to the Laval Rocket. He will join the team on Tuesday in training.

Xhekaj suffered an “upper body” injury last November 16 against the Vegas Golden Knights. After taking a hard check from Ivan Barbashev, number 72 appeared to point his shoulder to a therapist at the bench. The CH then added his name to the injured list.

After skating twice with his teammates in recent days, Xhekaj was removed from the injured list Monday morning, just before being demoted.

The 22-year-old colossus became a crowd favorite last season. He caused a surprise by making the jump directly from the junior ranks to the NHL, where he quickly established himself with his robustness. His first campaign was cut short after 51 games, however, when a shoulder injury suffered during a fight forced him to go under the knife.

Already vulnerable defensively last year, he seemed to show a certain decline on this front this fall. When he was injured a little over two weeks ago, his ice time was already declining.

The Habs indicated that the young man was not, officially, assigned to the minors for fitness purposes. Mattias Norlinder and Jayden Struble, for their part, remain with the CH until further notice.