One day after the Montreal Canadiens make the surprising free agent signing of Chris Kreider, general manager Kent Hughes locks up one of their own key free agents in Zachary Bolduc. According to Elliotte Friedman, the Canadiens and Bolduc agreed to a four-year deal worth $4.2 million.
Bolduc was a key acquisition last offseason when the Canadiens traded Logan Mailloux to the St. Louis Blues for Bolduc. The Canadiens were expecting him to continue to develop and build on a promising season but he struggled a bit to finish with 30 points, a decrease of six points from the prior season.
In the playoffs though Bolduc really showed how he could contribute and was one of their more physical forwards. He was second on the team in hits with 47 while adding seven points in the 19 playoff games.
The playoff performance should have been enough to convince the Canadiens to extend him, and it was surprising that a contract extension took this long. The fact that he remained unsigned fueled speculation that he might be part of a trade package for the Canadiens to add a star.
Instead of being moved, Bolduc is now the third player to receive a contract extension from Montreal this summer, joining Ivan Demidov and Jakub Dobes. However, with Kreider now on the roster, Bolduc's role will likely not grow this season and he should be a key part of their bottom six.
Montreal Canadiens still may not be done with Arber Xhekaj remaining a restricted free agent
As busy as Kent Hughes has been, he still has work to do as Arber Xhekaj remains a restricted free agent.
The defenseman is in a tricky situation as he doesn't have a clear path to a regular role on the blue line, and he may not be willing to sign a new deal without that. If that is the case, Xhekaj is probably more likely to be traded than to sign a new deal with Montreal.
With a new deal for Zachary Bolduc and the signing of Chris Kreider, Kent Hughes has quickly turned around what was a quiet offseason for the Montreal Canadiens.
Add us as a preferred source on Google