Zach Bolduc's second season with the Montreal Canadiens should be an impressive one.
While Zachary Bolduc remains an RFA, even though the Montreal Canadiens’ training camp starts in less than two weeks, there’s little doubt that the matter will be resolved before proceedings officially kick off in Brossard. The fact that Bolduc's agent (Pat Brisson) is also handling the case of Adam Fantilli, who’s also an RFA and a very high-profile one at that, is certainly part of the reason why Bolduc remains unsigned.
Obviously, the first thing to expect from Bolduc is a new contract, which should follow the Habs’ usual pattern with players out of their ELC who have yet to prove exactly what they could be: a three-year bridge deal somewhere around $4- $4.5 million, considering where the salary cap is at right now.
Once he puts pen to paper, though, Bolduc will remain in “prove yourself” mode, and even though he finished the playoffs on the wing of the fourth line, he showed in that 19-game run that he could play with grit and physicality. Given that it’s been widely reported the Habs would like to acquire a big second-line winger like Matthew Knies or Kirill Marchenko, Bolduc should be in the running for a spot on that second line.
While he didn’t have a very productive season offensively speaking last year with 30 points in 78 games (he had 36 points in 72 games with the St. Louis Blues in 2024-25), when the Canadiens acquired him, they did it because they saw some offensive instinct there. He may not be overly big; he’s only 6-foot and 187 pounds, but he can still play a heavy game using his speed. Last season, as he learned to play the Martin St-Louis way, which is not exactly easy to do, the winger moved up and down the lineup, spending time with everyone but Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen.
Now that Bolduc has learned the ropes with the Habs, I expect him to get a much longer look as a top-six option. The top line of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky works like a charm, although they had a tough time of it in the playoffs, and I can’t see St-Louis being keen on splitting them up. However, we’ve seen how well Demidov did when the Slovak power forward played on his line, and it might just be the same with a Bolduc who goes hard on the forecheck and isn’t afraid to get to the front of the net. The Russian is an elite playmaker, and he may just be able to reignite the offensive touch in Bolduc.
If he’s given a proper opportunity, this could be a breakout season for the Trois-Rivières native. Whatever happens, though, I firmly believe that Bolduc will be reaching the 40-point mark for the first time in his career.
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