The offseason leading into the 2025-26 season continues, and with the major events such as the NHL Entry Draft and free agent frenzy completed, the dog days of summer wear on as NHL management groups take a bit of a breather before the training camps begin. In this series, I will try to investigate every Montreal Canadiens roster player, recap their last season and look ahead to this upcoming season. I will look at their place in the organization, their role and their possible impact.
Related: Montreal Canadiens: 3 Burning Questions Heading Into 2025-26 Season
In the next step of the series, I will continue looking at the Canadiens’ forward group, this time with the newest addition at forward, Zachary Bolduc.
2024-25 Season Recap
The Canadiens followed up the trade for Noah Dobson by then trading their 22-year-old right-handed defenceman Logan Mailloux to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for the 22-year-old winger Bolduc. Both players were first-round picks in the 2021 NHL Draft, Bolduc 17th overall and Mailloux 31st. Interestingly, it was the Blues’ general manager (GM) Doug Armstrong who stated that this was a risk for his club. Mailloux competed the majority of the 2024-25 season with the American Hockey League (AHL) Laval Rocket, but by many accounts, he is ready to make the leap to the NHL. But with Dobson on the roster, Canadiens GM Kent Hughes saw an opportunity to trade from a position of strength to add a budding power forward in Bolduc.
Bolduc had a bit of a slow start to the 2024-25 season as he adjusted to the NHL game, but he finished the season with 19 goals and 36 points in 72 games. But he truly found his stride after the 4 Nations tournament. Bolduc scored 13 goals in those 26 games played to finish the regular season. Bally Sports analyst Jamie Rivers believes that the real catalyst for Bolduc was the coaching change when Jim Montgomery was brought in as the Blues’ new head coach. Rivers stated that “He’s just scratching the surface … If Jim Montgomery had been the head coach all season long, Zack Bolduc would have had 25-30 goals”.
Over the course of the season, the 6-foot, 187-pound forward only averaged 12:48 of ice time per game with the Blues but finished eighth in points and tied for fourth in goals among all NHL rookies. His seven power-play goals had him finish only one goal behind budding superstar…
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