One Montreal Canadiens player stands to profit from the latest wave of injuries: Zachary Bolduc. He's got the potential to cash in, but the question is, will he be able to do so?
While losing Patrik Laine, Alex Newhook, and Kirby Dach definitely hurt the Montreal Canadiens’ offence, it also gave Zachary Bolduc a big opportunity. When GM Kent Hughes decided to trade defenseman prospect Logan Mailloux to acquire the forward from the St-Louis Blues, he did so because he felt Bolduc could help improve the Canadiens’ anemic attack.
Since the start of the season, however, the 22-year-old has found himself playing alongside Dach, who was trying to get his game back after two serious knee injuries and Brendan Gallagher, who’s not producing the points he once did. He also spent some time on a line with Joe Veleno (who’s failed to register a single point in 14 games so far) and either Owen Beck or Joshua Roy. Whichever way you look at it, he wasn’t given an opportunity with offensively productive players.
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In 19 games, he has six points, which is a 26-point pace over an 82-game season, which would be a significant drop in production for the youngster who registered 36 points in 72 games with the Blues last season.
With the Canadiens’ attack severely depleted by injuries, Martin St-Louis has been forced to promote Bolduc, and he chose to go all in on the young forward, allowing him to play with the team’s most productive duo: captain Nick Suzuki and sniper Cole Caufield.
Even though Bolduc’s numbers have not been all that impressive, he still got a point in 33.3% of the even-strength goals that were scored while he was on the ice (in comparison, Juraj Slafkovsky’s percentage stands at 23.1%) and on 60% of the goals scored on the power play when he is on the ice, just like Slafkovsky.
Since the start of the year, Bolduc has scored 1.4 points per 60 minutes, which is slightly less than Slafkovsky (1.6), but he’s not had the same kind of offensive support on his line (Dach had seven points in 15 games, and Gallagher seven in 19 tilts). Meanwhile, Slafkovsky has played with the team’s two top scorers (Suzuki has 21 points in 19 matches while Caufield has 20 in the same number of games).
Last season with the Blues, Bolduc produced 2.3 points per 60 minutes, had a point on 61.5% of the goals scored at even strength when he was on the ice and on 70.6% of the goals scored on the power play when he was on the ice. Clearly, there’s untapped potential, and the organization needs to see what the youngster can bring to the table.
Bolduc is currently playing the last year of his entry-level contract, and assessing what he can do has to be on the agenda this season. As St-Louis often says, the league doesn’t care if the Canadiens have injuries; the show must go on, and that goes internally as well. When life gives you lemons, you’ve got to make lemonade.
If Bolduc can find his form from last season alongside Suzuki and Caufield, the Canadiens’ first line could become an even bigger threat. The question is, however, will they miss Slafkovsky’s physical presence? Bolduc does play with some grit as well. Even if he’s only 6-foot and 187 lbs, he had 7.0 hits per 60 minutes last season, while Slafkovsky had 8.4. So far this year, the Slovak has 6.4 per 60, while the Quebecer has 7.9 per 60. That’s the highest amongst the forwards who have played all 19 games.
On paper, Bolduc certainly has the skills necessary to be an impact player, and the Canadiens’ latest injury plague allows him to show if he can do it on the ice as well. It’s up to him to grab that opportunity with both hands and make the most of it, especially since he’s also back on the first power play unit. Three of his six points this year have come on the man-advantage, and playing alongside Suzuki, Caufield, Slafkovsky and Hutson on the first unit can undoubtedly make a difference.
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