Florian Czekai played his first NHL game on Saturday night. Arber's younger brother took advantage of the opportunity to score his first point (an assist) and have his first career battle on the Bettman circuit.
All this on a Saturday night at the Bell Center against the Maple Leafs… with his brother as a teammate and his parents in the stands. No less.
For a fourth-round pick two years ago, that's a pretty meteoric rise. After all, he played one game in the NHL before being drafted fifth overall. We're talking about David Reinbacher here.
Interestingly, many teams turned their noses up at Czekay in the draft. However, there was one team that wasn't considered until the 101st pick (the one used to select Cekaj): the Ottawa Senators.
And Pierre Dorion, speaking of Return with Martin Lemayadmitted that he desperately wanted to choose Florian.
It's worth remembering that the 2023 Senators didn't have a single pick in the first three rounds of the auction. The club's first pick was 108th overall, seven spots after Czekaj was selected by the Habs.
So it's safe to assume that had he not been selected by the Habs with the 101st overall pick, Czekai would have been selected by the Senators with the 108th overall pick… and you have to wonder if he would have been selected earlier if the club had been able to select him before the 108th overall pick.
Of course, you might think that all this was rather strange. We know that the Habs and Senators have had a strong rivalry for several years now, and the games between the two clubs are quite intense.
Imagine if the two Czekai brothers were at the center of this rivalry: that would be something.
And of course, if these two clubs don't like each other, you have to wonder how badly the Senators wanted Florian anger their rival. I have no doubt that Dorion and Sens loved him… but that's an open question.
The good news is that all of that is in the past: Florian is now in Montreal with his brother… much to the chagrin of the Senators.
After a while
– Speaking of Chekai.
Simone Czekai on her sons Arber and Florian playing for the Habs in the NHL:
“This is what we all worked on and what I only dreamed of…”
– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) November 26, 2025
– Sidney Crosby: perfect correspond according to Chris Johnston for the Habs. [The Athletic]
– Alexandre Carrier knows that he needs to try to get hit less often.
READ: Alexandre Carrier, one of the most lovable and respected players of all time.
https://t.co/jKZD1VgEwa
– TVA Sports (@TVASports) November 26, 2025
– Adore.
These paintings belong to the Louvre.
(by using @NHL) pic.twitter.com/IV8L4pgAGX
– BarDown (@BarDown) November 26, 2025
– Wow.
Things are moving… quickly. https://t.co/HnvgpJCk3n
– Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) November 26, 2025
