Canadiens, Zack Bolduc agree to 4-year contract worth $4.2 million a year

The Montreal Canadiens and forward Zack Bolduc have agreed to a four-year contract worth $4.2 million a year, the team announced Sunday.

Bolduc, 23, scored 12 goals and 30 points in 78 games in his first season with the Canadiens in 2025-26. Acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Blues for defenseman Logan Mailloux on July 1, 2025, Bolduc has scored 36 goals and 75 points in 175 career NHL games between Montreal and St. Louis. His new contract begins this season and runs through 2030.

Bolduc’s Canadiens career got off to an excellent start with goals in each of his first three games in a Montreal uniform, but he struggled to find consistency and bounced up and down the lineup for much of last season. A strong forechecker with an excellent shot, Bolduc was acquired by the Canadiens with the idea he could one day become a viable top-six winger in the NHL, bolstered by his performance at the end of the 2024-25 season, when he scored 13 goals in his final 24 games with the Blues.

The Canadiens seemingly filled a hole in their top six with the signing of Chris Kreider on Saturday, but the one-year term on that contract was likely to allow someone like Bolduc to grow into that role eventually, perhaps even over the course of this season. Bolduc was never able to solidify a role there as he adjusted to the way coach Martin St. Louis wants to play. His forechecking and direct style allow him to still play further down the lineup, but his scoring and shooting ability would be best served playing with offensively talented linemates who can get the puck on his stick in shooting areas.

Bolduc was a prolific scorer in junior, scoring 126 goals over his final two seasons with the Québec Remparts of the QMJHL.

A native of nearby Trois-Rivières, Bolduc grew up cheering for the Canadiens, and perhaps having a year to adjust to the difficult realities of a Francophone playing in his native province will allow him to start this season on stronger footing.