BROSSARD — 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 on Tuesday before NHL free agency opened.
“I met some great people and created friends for life in St. Louis,” the forward said during a video conference. “But on the other hand, the Montreal Canadiens are the team I grew up watching. I’m super excited.”
Bolduc later added that he wasn’t expecting the trade “at all.”
He found it strange when his phone lit up with a call from Blues general manager Doug Armstrong soon after a workout in Quebec City, where he trains during the off-season.
“I said to myself, ‘he doesn’t call often, why is he calling?’” Bolduc said. “At the start of the conversation everything seemed normal, then at one point he mentioned that he traded me. Then I wanted to know where I was going.
“When he said he’d traded me to the Canadiens, I was a bit shocked. Super excited, but shocked, because to be honest, it’s a childhood dream.”
Bolduc had 19 goals and 17 assists in 72 games with the Blues last season. The 22-year-old from Trois-Rivières, Que., added one assist in seven playoff games.
The six-foot, 187-pound winger described himself as a strong skater and shooter who’s not afraid to impose himself physically.
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.
Both players are entering the final season of their entry-level contracts.
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.
Kahkonen spent the majority of last season in the AHL, helping the Charlotte Checkers — the Carolina Hurricanes' affiliate — reach the Calder Cup final. Blais had 14 goals and 26 assists on the Calder Cup-champion Abbotsford Canucks.
Montreal later signed forward Alex Belzile and defenceman Nate Clurman to one-year, two-way deals.
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.
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.
The Ontario Hockey League later suspended Mailloux, who played for the London Knights, from September to December 2021.
Mailloux has previously said he "deeply regrets" taking and then sharing that photo with his teammates "to impress them."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 1, 2025.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
