Canadiens Sign RFA Zach Bolduc To Extension

It's just days ahead of training camp and the Montreal Canadiens came into the weekend with two notable unsigned restricted free agents. They've taken care of one of those pieces of business, signing Zach Bolduc to a four-year deal with a $4.2 million AAV.

Zach Bolduc 4 x $4.2M

Montreal

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) September 13, 2026

It's pretty close to bang on what kind of deal we were all expecting for the 23-year-old two-way forward. He will now be set to hit unrestricted free agency after the 2029-30 season at just 27 years old. 

Bolduc brings energy and speed to the bottom six for the Habs, who are betting on the hope that he will also return to his strong secondary scoring habits. He had 19 goals for the St. Louis Blues two seasons ago, but dropped to 12 last year with Montreal.

In 175 career NHL games (2+ seasons), Bolduc has 36 goals, 75 points and a plus/minus rating of +14. He's also handed out 290 hits, 170 of them last season with Montreal. 

If Tony Marinaro of The Sick Podcast is right, the $4.2M AAV will be an incredible bargain in the coming years. "I think he has the potential to be a top 6 in the next couple of years," he wrote in a post.

The deal comes in just ahead of tomorrow's annual golf tournament for the Habs at Laval-sur-le-Lac.

Arber Xhekaj remains the only unsigned RFA now for the Canadiens. According to PuckPedia, the team now has about $3.4 million in cap space remaining, obviously more than enough to get a deal done for the rugged defenseman. It's still uncertain just exactly what the holdup is there.