- Zachary Bolduc signed a four-year extension with the Canadiens at a $4.2 million cap hit
- The term carries him straight to unrestricted free agency with no UFA years bought out
- Read below for the full terms, his numbers and what Montreal has left for Arber Xhekaj
Zachary Bolduc is staying in Montreal, and the term walks him right to free agency.
The Canadiens signed their restricted free agent forward to a four-year extension at a $4.2 million cap hit, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported Sunday. That works out to $16.8 million, and it starts this season.
Four years is the exact distance. TVA Sports reporter Nicolas Cloutier pointed out that the deal takes Bolduc directly to unrestricted status, meaning Montreal did not buy out a single UFA season here.
That cuts both ways. Kent Hughes keeps the cap hit modest on a winger who has not hit his ceiling, and Bolduc gets a clean run at a much bigger number before he turns 28.
Last season brought 12 goals and 30 points in 78 games, which ranked ninth on the team in scoring:
Montreal expected more than that. Bolduc scored 13 goals over his final 26 games with St. Louis in 2024-25, and the Canadiens gave up Logan Mailloux to get him last summer on the strength of that finish.
Spring went better. Bolduc put up three goals and seven points in 19 playoff games, and every one of those points landed in the first two rounds while the Habs won road Game 7s against Tampa Bay and Buffalo.
This leaves the Canadiens with roughly $3.4 million in projected cap space and one restricted free agent still unsigned in Arber Xhekaj. Hughes got there partly by keeping the Chris Kreider deal at a $2.15 million base with up to $3 million more in performance bonuses.
He turns 27 in the final season of this contract. Four years to show the scorer St. Louis saw is the real one, and then Bolduc picks his own team.
