With training camp creeping closer, the Canadiens still have two restricted free agents hanging in the balance: Arber Xhekaj and Zachary Bolduc.
Captain Nick Suzuki made it clear Thursday that both players matter to the group, on and off the ice, while also sounding confident there’s time to sort things out.
"Both are really important players," Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said Thursday, when he met with media members ahead of the Heroes Golf Tournament to benefit the Asista Foundation at the St-Raphaël club on Île-Bizard. "Zach had a good year.
He took steps throughout the season and into the playoffs. Obviously, Arber is a big and important piece for our locker room and on the ice.
So, hopefully, both guys can get it done. There's still plenty of time, so pretty hopeful."
The timing matters. Sept. 16 is the date to keep an eye on, since that’s when the NHL’s new collective bargaining agreement takes effect and when the Canadiens are expected to open training camp.
That new CBA brings a couple of changes that could matter here. Players will no longer be able to sign for more than seven years with their current team, down from eight, and signing bonuses will be limited to 60 per cent of a contract’s total value. That could become especially relevant if teams start working on sign-and-trade deals, like the one the Canadiens completed last summer when they brought in defenceman Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders after he agreed to an eight-year, US$76-million deal with a US$9.5 million annual salary-cap hit.
For Kent Hughes, patience still looks like the play. The Canadiens general manager has said he’d like to add a top-six forward and an experienced right-shot defenceman, and that opens the door for roster movement that could involve Xhekaj or Bolduc.
Xhekaj, 25, and Bolduc, 23, are both the kind of players other teams could want in a bigger package if Hughes decides to swing a deal. And if the Canadiens do bring in a top-six forward and/or a defenceman, that would also affect the club’s cap picture and, by extension, what Hughes is able to offer either player if they stay in Montreal.
Hughes has already shown he’s willing to wait.
“If I had my druthers, we did it yesterday,” Hughes said when he last met with the media on July 1 after making no major moves when the free-agent market opened.
“There could be a trade in September or October,” Hughes added.
He also made it plain he won’t rush into a bad deal just to quiet the noise.
Hughes also noted he wouldn’t make a “dumb trade” just to appease Canadiens fans on a short-term basis.
On the ice, Xhekaj and Bolduc both gave the Canadiens usable minutes last season. Xhekaj finished with 1-3-4 in 65 regular-season games and led the team with 116 penalty minutes while carrying a US$1.3 million cap hit. In the playoffs, he was scratched for six of Montreal’s 19 games and put up 1-1-2 with 28 penalty minutes in the 13 games he played.
Bolduc, meanwhile, posted 12-18-30 in 78 regular-season games with a cap hit of US$863,334. He stayed in the lineup for all 19 playoff games and produced 3-4-7.
There’s no sign of panic from Xhekaj’s camp. Agent Brian Bartlett had no comment Friday when reached by text message, though he addressed the situation with The Gazette’s Herb Zurkowsky at the end of last month.
“We have a long time until the season starts,” Bartlett said at the time. “We have to try and figure out where he fits into the structure of the team.
Montreal has some decisions to make. We have some decisions to make.
There’s no panic.
“I think he’s a really good player," Bartlett added about Xhekaj. "Good teams like good players.
The communication has been positive with the management group. I don’t have any indication to think that things are going to go off the rail.”
Canadiens owner/president Geoff Molson was asked about both contract situations this week during an interview with RDS at a golf tournament, and he said he expects the deals to get done.
"We're always eager to see situations involving important players get resolved," Molson said. "And I have no doubt that it will get done, but am I worried? No."
In Other News...
Flames Blue Line Squeeze Puts Two Veterans In A Tough Spot
Brayden Pachal and Joel Hanley have quietly become useful pieces on the Calgary blue line since arriving on waivers during the 2023-24 season. Both settled in as dependable defensive depth, the kind of low-drama veterans coaches like to have around when the schedule gets hectic and the lineup needs a steady hand.
This season, though, the picture is less settled. Calgary has added younger defenders, and that has tightened the squeeze on two players who still profile as NHL-caliber insurance if injuries hit. With both in the final year of their contracts, their roles could shrink unless circumstances open a door, and the possibility of interest from other clubs only adds another layer to a situation worth watching. [Read more 🡒]
Ex-Flame Recalls Darryl Sutters Ruthless Approach To Contract Talks
Contract talks in the Darryl Sutter era, at least as Rhett Warrener remembers them, were a lot less about back-and-forth and a lot more about picking from a short list. The former Flames defenceman recently reflected on how Sutter, then Calgarys coach and general manager, kept negotiations simple by laying out preset options and leaving players to decide what fit best.
Warrener used that old-school approach to highlight how much the NHL has changed, where even a major offer is no longer always enough to get a deal done. He pointed to the modern reality of players and teams navigating a far more complicated market, with the recent reported rejection by Cutter Gauthier serving as the clearest sign of how different contract talks have become. [Read more 🡒]
Jonathan Huberdeau Has Become Calgarys Biggest 2026-27 Question
Jonathan Huberdeaus status has quietly become one of the biggest plotting points on the Flames offseason board. After a 2025-26 season lost to chronic hip pain, the winger underwent hip resurfacing surgery and has already started skating again, which at least gives Calgary a clearer timeline heading into the fall. The club is also sorting through a roster that has some emerging younger players, so any read on Huberdeau matters well beyond his own comeback.
The real uncertainty is less about whether he can be back for training camp and more about what he looks like once he is. A healthy Huberdeau would give Calgary a much different forward option than the one it had to plan without last season, but the organization still has to weigh his place against the rest of the group as it builds toward 2026-27. For a team trying to define its next step, his recovery is a major piece of the puzzle and one that remains open for now. [Read more 🡒]