Canadiens Analysis
Instant Trade Analysis: What To Expect From Zachary Bolduc
Now that the Montreal Canadiens have acquired forward Zachary Bolduc in exchange for defenceman Logan Mailloux, it’s time to take a look at what the newest member of the organization is expected to bring to the table.
ON TOPIC: Canadiens Trade Defenceman Mailloux To St-Louis Blues
Salary Cap Implications
Bolduc is on the final year of his entry-level contract, which means he should provide the Canadiens with great value in 2025-26. The other side of the coin is that he will require a raise next season, as he’s set for a significant raise due to his impressive production. The concern about the cost of his raise should be mitigated slightly by the fact that the NHL’s salary cap is on an upward trajectory.
Bolduc Impact On The Ice
With 19 goals and 17 assists in 72 games last year, the 22-year-old enjoyed a fantastic year from an offensive standpoint, especially when we consider 12 of those goals were scored at even-strength.
On that note, he also made a positive impact on St-Louis’ powerplay, as evidenced by his Evolving Hockey player card embedded below. His versatility should serve him well, not to mention provide head coach Martin St-Louis with a few more options as he assembles his lineup.
Bolduc can, and probably should be used in the top six, and it’s not a matter of being hypnotized by the new shiny toy. His defensive prowess is excellent, which means St-Louis should have no problems trusting Bolduc in high-pressure situations.
Montreal Canadiens Brass Tacks
I’m sure some will lament the loss of Mailloux, but Kent Hughes traded an AHL defenceman for a 20-goal scorer, and you’d be hard-pressed to argue it was a bad deal.
The Canadiens addressed a need while using a surplus to get it done, and that’s exactly the name of the game when it comes to asset management.
The trade should also remove some of the pressure on the top line of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkosvky, as the Habs will finally be able to ice at least two solid forward lines.
It’s also a nice bonus that Bolduc happens to be a Quebec native, but let’s make one thing clear, that’s not why the Habs acquired him, at least not primarily. He’s highly talented, and what’s more, at 22 years old he should fit in nicely with one of the youngest lineups in the league.
So is he on a second line with Newhook and Demidov?
I would think Laine and Demidov. Bolduc can play center.
Newhook will be 3rd line center know.
I know he played winger, but he’s listed as a C on EP… given his defensive prowess, could this ALSO be another kick at the can for acquiring a 2C? Just another potential option there? Probably not next year, but moving forward…. Could be very interesting.
Even if that’s not possible, love this trade too. Gritty player, already producing, responsible defensively, for an excess defender who hasn’t proven himself in the nhl. Hugo crushing this offseason under circumstances that don’t offer much (few free agents and trade options). Going to be a fun season!
Bolduc’s faceoff win %age is around 36%. Not anything to be excited about, but still ahead of Dach. Apparently he has grit, and a quick shot….so the faceoff stuff might be a learned skill. At least if he IS going to be a winger, he can replace Laine, and go into the corners and be tough.
Not liking losing Mailloux but to get talent you need to give up some potential. Bolduc adds offence and can play defence in the NHL – a proven commodity. Not sure if Montreal will try him at C position but a young scoring winger to compliment Caufile, Slafkofsky is welcome…and we get to see what Demidov can bring to table. And now the challenge will be to figure out how Laine fits into the picture in top 2 lines. Not thinking a line of Laine, Bolduc and Demidov works in defensive zone.
They need another tough in your face winger for 3rd/ 4th line. They have some great parts – now they need to make the total better than the individual parts.
Doesn’t address our lack of depth down the middle, but this is still a good trade that adds another young and proven middle 6 winger to the mix.
I like the trade, but I’m still trying to package Mike for a legit 2C 😉
Pretty good news,but where is that second line center that they say they so badly need???
So who is out of the top 6 if Bolduc has to play on the top 2 lines? Suzuki, Caufield, Slafkovsky, Demidov, Laine, Dach, Newhook… That’s 8 guys including Bolduc. Two of the 6 need to be centres and Dach and Suzuki are the only natural C on the list. Newhook can also play C, but has kinda shown that’s not the best spot for him. Or, does Newhook become the 3C in Dvorak’s spot? That leaves Laine as the odd man out? I don’t see that happening. I don’t see Bolduc on the top 2 lines imo.
Dach is no center. Habs can’t put a guy out on the 2nd PP in the opponent’s zone that only gets them possession 35% of the time. He had a putrid 21 pts to go with an almost league worst -29, he can’t play center, not on any legitimate team. Newhook is even worse, because he’s soft, and though fast, he can’t execute at speed.
Gorton and his agent GM have traded away 4 1st round picks and several 2nds during a rebuild, but try telling us they aren’t rushing the rebuild, or doing anything stupid.
No? Trading for a 2nd PP QB when you just unearthed a phenom at the position, that’s stupid. Habs needed a replacement for Savard, a guy like Cody Ceci, not another defenceman who can’t kill penalties who is sure to never earn the hefty contract he just received.
He gets 1/3rd of his pts on the PP, but is used to 80-90 seconds/pp, not the 30-40 seconds/pp he will get on the 2nd unit. STUPID.
And now they traded for a right wing when they already have Slafkovsky, Demidov and Gallagher. Where is he going to play, on the 4th line? The left side is as full unless they get rid of Laine, which they must do.
Way things are going, they’ll probably extend the pylon instead. Awful week for the rebuild.
Tell me how you really feel. 😁
I wouldn’t say it’s been an awful week, but it certainly had me scratching my head. We spent draft equity filling a position (RD) we already had 2 of our best prospects (Reinbacher & Mailloux) soon to be joining the team at. Having said that, Dobson is a heck of a player.
Trading 6’3” 212lb RD Mailloux for a player who may or may not be a C concerns me because didn’t we already get burned doing the exact same thing trading Sergachev for Drouin? Or going back further, McDonagh for Gomez? Those didn’t work out so well for us. Did we just do it again? Sure as hell hope not. Having said that, Cosentino & Bukula on Sportsnet seem to LOVE the trade for us, so that gives me pause to wait and see before poo pooing the trade.
I guess we’ll have to see how everything plays out over the summer in order to assess the moves as a whole. I would have to imagine that there’s still more coming from HuGo.
I don’t see this trade as anywhere near the Sergachev – Drouin.
Mailloux was one of three excellent d prospects so someone really had to go.
There was a HUGE hole created moving Serg that took years to recover from, which would’ve happened no matter who he was traded for so that was far worse.
I don’t see a comparison to the McDonaugh trade either.
Besides the guys in Laval we have other good young D prospects
Those other trades tried to plug a hole while creating another.
Mailloux wasn’t going to be on the Habs this season or maybe ever.
Even in his Blues interview he said with Dobson coming he knew there wasn’t a spot for him
Reinbacher isn’t going to be on the Habs this season either (unless we have a bunch of injuries). Should we trade him too? To say this trade is not potentially anything like Sergachev for Drouin’s or McDonagh for Gomez is untrue. They’re all potentially (key word) the same. A young, burgeoning D prospect is traded away for a forward prospect. The fact that we have more depth at different positions isn’t relevant to the fact that there are similarities in these trades. I don’t have anything against Bolduc or Dobson. I’m very much looking forward to seeing what they add to our team. But that doesn’t mean I can’t question the trades or ponder their future viability or make connections to past trades that didn’t work out for us.
I’ll actually agree with you…scratching my head too.
The single biggest issue on this team is #2 centre. And that was worsened by Dvorak leaving. So what did Hughes do? Go get a top Dman, who is basically Son of Hutson…and another run-of-the-mill winger who has “potential”, but where is the centre who will bring out his best?
We already have Hutson…why do we need Son of Hutson – and on the same line? That’s NOT a good compliment. If you want to make a big trade, make it for a #2 centre.
Then, why trade Mailloux for yet another winger, when we needed a centre?
Yes, I don’t get ANY of these moves.
At least son of Hutson is 6’4”. 🤷♂️
The other part that is troubling with these moves is what once were cupboards full of potential trade chips with value, has now dropped down to realistically just Matheson. Reinbacher has trade value, but considering how much HuGo put their necks on the line drafting him, and doubled down by trading away Mailloux, he’s not going anywhere. Beck and Roy are good prospects, but aren’t going to bring in a haul for anything that’s an upgrade. We don’t have any extra first round picks anymore. Anderson may continue to regain value if he keeps playing like he did last year, but if we can actually make the playoffs, he’s exactly the type of player we need to keep. Other than Matheson, I don’t see much other feasible assets we’d be willing to trade for a 2C. Having said all that, I’m in the minority who still believe in Dach and feel he’s still going to be our guy.
Well, you know I’ll always find something to disagree with you on!!!!!
Anderson is done. He went from a 20 pt season to a whopping 27 pt season. He’s 3rd line material at best, 4th on good teams. He should have been traded instead of Tofolli 3 years ago. He now amounts to a buyout…or a 3 or 4th rd pick…certainly not a trade chip for a #2C.
I feel Dach is done too. One knee, two surgeries…back to back years. And he’s TERRIBLE on FOs. He, too is a 3rd line centre at best at this point…to “expect” more out of him at this point is a pipe dream.
The 2nd line is screwed no matter how you look at it…until this issue is truly solved. The two “fantastic” trades this past week did NOT solve this issue.
I’m not looking for points from Anderson. He’s just a big, mean role player built for the playoff wars. We’re very much lacking in that dept so he’s more valuable to us than some other team.
We should get this guy next year!
https://youtu.be/77CRmEjcrxw
You nailed it, Greg. Of course those enthralled with Gorton’s and Hughes’ so-called negotiating prowess all disagree. Those few of us not wearing rose coloured glasses fully agree.
Cody Ceci?!? Are you kidding? Why not ask Savard to stay?
The Habs were the YOUNGEST team in the league last year, beat the Panthers ALL four games and made the playoffs WITHOUT “rushing the rebuild”! And why can’t Gally be moved to the 4th line? There’s no guarantee he’ll be able to repeat what he did this season.
Dach had a decent season the year before and IF they try him at 2C, he’ll have MUCH BETTER wingers than he did before so let’s see what happens!
Maybe Bolduc will be moved to Centre!
We got a puck moving right shot D in his prime for a decent but 4th line wing, then a potentially talented but NOT NHL right shot D for ANOTHER young wing that scored 19 goals last year!
As Hughes said, you don’t HAVE to have a Centre as the distributor!
RELAX, it’s an EXCITING, YOUNG team that’s building for the LONG term, it’ll be fun to see how the season evolves!
I sure don’t see the reason for all the damn doom and gloom!
Mostly agree. The single biggest issue on this team is #2 centre. And that was worsened by Dvorak leaving. So what did Hughes do? Go get a top Dman, who is basically Son of Hutson…and another run-of-the-mill winger who has “potential”, but where is the centre who will bring out his best?
Would you say this decreases the chance of Kyrou to MTL? With the Habs acquiring Bolduc + his no trade clause kicking in did the chances decrease significantly? Or do you think there’s still a good chance they get him?
I think the idea is we have a team that can run 3 scoring lines. I also wouldn’t be shocked if Habs see what Bolduc can do at C.
Awful. This managing team are just terrible, and I’m sick of listening to kudos for stupidity.
Where exactly will Bolduc play as a right wing? He’s already behind Slafkovsky, Demidov and Gallagher on the right wing depth chart, so what, he plays the wrong side? Many players just can’t produce the same results on the wrong wing.
There’s depth there too, with Caufield, Anderson, and lord help us, Laine the effortless pylon.
And just who is going to play center? Only Suzuki and Evans are signed, and no matter what the 2 dummies running the Habs want to believe, Newhook and Dach are wingers.
This, after he trades for a 3rd PP QB behind Matheson and Hutson in Dobson. Being as Dobson scores 1/3rd+ of his points on the PP, and Montreal runs a 4 forward 1 defenceman PP unit, where will Dobson get 1/3 of his points when he’s playing 40 seconds/PP on the 2nd unit? Don’t tell me they plan to go back to 2 d, 3 fwds on the PP, that is a terrible plan.
Wouldn’t most people prefer Demidov out there on PP1 over any defender not named Hutson?
Oh, BTW, Dobson doesn’t kill penalties. All this does is ensure that both he and Hutson, who is now certain to make 10 mil/yr on his next deal, will both score fewer points.
And still no 2C. What a mess.
They turned two picks (in a very poor draft class) into a top pairing defenceman, and then they turned an AHL defenceman into a 20-goal scorer. On top of being clear upgrades, they’re both quite young.
Everyone outside of Montreal seems to be beyond impressed with the deals, I’m surprised you’re taking such a negative stance.
Just another armchair QB who knows better than everyone else. I wonder why some people like that aren’t running their own hockey team instead of critiquing pros at their jobs. I understand the Dobson-Hutson problem, but is it a really a “problem” to have too much offensive talent? And why isn’t he even considering BOLDUC at center? At a +20 last year he seems to be very responsible at both ends. But hey, I’m just enjoying the ride. Not acting like I know better than everyone else.
I’m just really happy a possible center was added to the team that DESPERATELY needs it, for a position we have to make room at. Seems like a win. This kid was 17th overall let’s not forget. And only 22!
CHEERS!
You must be real fun at parties. If you knew anything about hockey, you’d know the Dobson and Bolduc moves were excellent stepping stones that make us way better IMMEDIATELY. This Habs fan is thrilled. The 2C solution will come, just a matter of time.
I fully agree with you. Not EVERYONE is thrilled by these deals. Quite the opposite.
We already have Hutson…why did we need another Hutson – and on the same line? Great, they will score a million points – but will also give up a million goals. Guhle should be on the top line (for now)…that’s the proper balance. So then, they just paid $9.5M for a 2nd line Dman?????
We already have wingers who can score – give them a legit #2 centre, and you won’t need any more wingers.
And STILL, no #2 centre….
The reason to have at least two offensive defensemen is not to put them on the same line. It’s to ensure that you have at least one of them on the ice at 5v5 probably 75-80% of the time. This provides offensive support to your top two lines, and even your top three.
Hutson and Dobson will never be a pair, unless it is an end of game, 6 on 5 situation. Guhle will play with Dobson, and the plan is to eventually play Reinbacher with Hutson. That’s your top 4.
As for a 2nd line center, please identify this candidate for this year, one who won’t block Hage in 2 or 3 years. Treliving in Toronto estimated that there are 27 teams looking for a 2C, but you seem to have that answer up your sleeve. Please share, for the sake of HuGo!
Rome wasn’t built in a day, nor will the SC contending version of this team, something everyone seems to understand except impatient know-it-all teenagers.
I think we should dumb-down our expectations. 19G and 17A is nice, buts that’s 3rd line stats in today’s NHL. If we are expecting much more out of him, and justify playing on the 2nd line, that’s a mistake. He’s a winger. Forcing him into playing center would wind up the same way as all the other Habs recent failed “experiments” with pushing players into lines or positions they can’t handle. Then who is centre on the 2nd line? Newhook? Beck? Evans? Dach? None of these have proven they are legit #2 centres, thus we can’t assume any one of them WILL be – this season, or ever. Without a true #2 centre, whatever winger is on that line will suffer and not reach “expectations”. That includes Bolduc, Laine, and yes, even Demidov.
A right-shot Dman was added. Yet another winger was added. But no #2 centre – the one position that was most important to solve. Until this #2 centre issue is solved for good, my expectations are for the 2nd line to be the single biggest issue with this team this season. It will hold them back.
His third line stats were achieved playing on the fourth line and on the powerplay
It’s difficult to project next seasons lines, between internal competition and players establishing chemistry, it will require a process being applied by the coaching staff. There is also a likelihood, that non-fourth line players may play on the the fourth line at times. We got alot of middle of the line-up players, it will take time to settle. We may want Bolduc to settle in before trying him at center. I’d be comfortable using Evans as 2C at least temporarily. I would not be comfortable immediately throwing our inexperienced, fresh faces into the thick of it too soon.