BROSSARD 鈥� Zack Bolduc is joining the team he grew up cheering for with mixed emotions.
The Montreal Canadiens acquired Bolduc from the St. Louis Blues for defenceman Logan Mailloux minutes before NHL free agency opened at noon ET on Tuesday.
鈥淚 met some great people and created friends for life in St. Louis,鈥� the forward said during a video conference. 鈥淏ut on the other hand, the Montreal Canadiens are the team I grew up watching. I鈥檓 super excited.鈥�
Bolduc later added he wasn鈥檛 expecting the trade 鈥渁t all.鈥�
The 22-year-old from Trois-Rivi猫res, Que., found it strange when his phone lit up with a call from Blues general manager Doug Armstrong soon after a workout Tuesday morning in Quebec City, where he trains during the off-season.
鈥淚 said to myself, 鈥榟e doesn鈥檛 call often, why is he calling?鈥欌�� said Bolduc, who鈥檚 entering the final season of his entry-level deal. 鈥淎t the start of the conversation everything seemed normal, then at one point he mentioned that he traded me.
鈥淲hen he said he鈥檇 traded me to the Canadiens, I was a bit shocked. Super excited, but shocked, because to be honest, it鈥檚 a childhood dream.鈥�
Bolduc had 19 goals and 17 assists in 72 games with the Blues last season, adding one assist in seven playoff games.
The six-foot, 187-pound winger described himself as a strong skater and shooter who鈥檚 not afraid to impose himself physically.
Canadiens GM Kent Hughes highlighted Bolduc鈥檚 skating, potential and style of play.
鈥淲e saw a lot of improvement in his physical play this season,鈥� Hughes said at the Canadiens鈥� practice facility. 鈥淗e also has potential offensively. In junior, he was a really good offensive player 鈥� and while playing less than 13 minutes a game, he almost scored 20 goals this past season.鈥�
Mailloux, of Windsor, Ont., produced 12 goals and 21 assists in 63 games with the American Hockey League's Laval Rocket last season. He was an AHL all-star in 2024 and 2025.
The 22-year-old right-shot blueliner added two goals and two assists in seven games with the Canadiens in the NHL.
Bolduc was drafted 17th overall by the Blues in 2021.
That same draft, then-Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin made the controversial decision to select Mailloux with the 31st overall pick, despite the blueliner publicly asking not to be chosen following an incident in Sweden. While on loan to SK Lejon in 2020, Mailloux was fined by Swedish authorities after admitting to two charges related to sharing, without her consent, a photo of a woman performing a sexual act.
Mailloux said Tuesday he's tried to turn that negative situation into a positive.
"It's not just in the rearview for me, I think it's something that I carry with me every day. It's something that I want to make a positive impact," he said. "In the past few years I feel like I've grown a lot as a person off the ice. I've been around the community in Montreal and I look forward to getting to St. Louis and being able to make a positive impact around the community there.
"Being able to turn that into a positive is something I've really tried to do."
The trade comes a few days after the Canadiens acquired Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders and signed the right-shot defenceman to an eight-year, US$76-million contract.
Via free agency, the Canadiens also added goalie Kaapo Kahkonen and forward Samuel Blais on one-year contracts Tuesday. The value of each deal was not announced.
Montreal later signed forward Alex Belzile and defenceman Nate Clurman to one-year, two-way deals.
The Canadiens exceeded expectations last season by reaching the playoffs ahead of schedule in their rebuild.
Hughes wouldn鈥檛 guarantee Montreal's return to the post-season, but believes his group is better-placed to reach the playoffs than 12 months ago.
"I hope we make the playoffs. I think that as a roster, we probably have a better chance than maybe what we did last year at this time,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e found our way in and other teams that maybe were expected to didn't, so you still got to play the games.
鈥淲e still have work to do here from a management perspective to get to where we want to be, but I like the direction we're heading.鈥�
Meanwhile, centre Christian Dvorak is leaving the Canadiens and joining the Philadelphia Flyers on a one-year, $5.4-million contract. Dvorak, 29, had 12 goals and 21 assists in 82 games last season.
Winger Joel Armia, who had 11 goals and 18 assists in 81 games in Montreal last season, signed a two-year, $5-million deal with the Los Angeles Kings.
Hughes said he discussed extensions with both players, noting that Armia 鈥渨anted to stay in Montreal.鈥�
鈥淚f we were able to equal the offer, I think Armia would have chosen to stay,鈥� he said.
Next up, Hughes has a second-line centre on his wish list, but said he鈥檚 comfortable with a mix of Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, Jake Evans and Owen Beck down the middle.
鈥淲e were always going to address the centre position on the trade market,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 done it yet, we鈥檙e ready to start the season like this, but at the same time we鈥檒l keep working the phones.鈥�
Hughes wouldn鈥檛 reveal any details about contract negotiations with rookie-of-the-year Lane Hutson and veteran defenceman Mike Matheson, who both became eligible for contract extensions Tuesday afternoon.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 1, 2025.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
