The Canadiens Are Betting on More Than Bolduc’s 12 Goals
There are some NHL contracts that are really about what a player has already done. Other contracts are signed because the team believes the player can produce more. Zachary Bolduc’s new four-year, $16.8 million contract with the Montreal Canadiens feels like the second kind — a bet on what he might become rather than a reward for what he has already accomplished.
Bolduc’s numbers don’t jump off the page - at least, not yet.
The 23-year-old just finished a season with 12 goals and 30 points in 78 games. Those aren't numbers that jump off the page, especially for a player who is now going to carry a $4.2 million annual cap hit. But there is another part of Bolduc’s game that Montreal clearly values. He registered 170 hits and blocked 43 shots while putting 101 pucks on net.
That combination tells a slightly different story. Bolduc isn't being paid to be Montreal's next offensive superstar. At least not yet. He's being paid because the Canadiens apparently believe he can become a dependable, physical, two-way player who can handle the less glamorous parts of NHL hockey while still contributing offence.
At 23, Bolduc is still young enough that 12 goals doesn't necessarily tell us where his career is headed. Players develop at different speeds, and sometimes the jump from being a young player trying to establish himself to becoming a trusted NHL regular happens fairly quickly.
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The Canadiens expect that Bolduc will produce more as the contract matures.
The Canadiens seem willing to pay for that possibility now rather than wait for the price to go up. Of course, there's a risk. Four years is a significant commitment to a player who has produced 30 points once and is apparently still expected to battle for a bottom-six job at training camp. If the offence doesn't grow, Montreal could end up paying middle-six money for a fourth-line player.
But that's where the physical numbers become important. A player who can contribute 170 hits, block shots, and play a responsible game has a higher floor than a player whose value depends almost entirely on scoring. Bolduc doesn't have to become a 60-point player for this contract to make sense. If he develops into a 40-point player who can play hard minutes and bring some physical edge, Montreal may have found itself a pretty useful piece.
For the Canadiens, this is a bet on development, not production.
And those are often the most interesting contracts to watch. The Canadiens aren't paying Bolduc for the player he was last season. They're paying him because they believe the 23-year-old version is only the beginning.
Bolduc is another young player Canadiens GM Kent Hughes wants to lock up for the near future. He did just that this weekend.