With training camp drawing closer, the Canadiens still have two contract situations hanging over them. Zachary Bolduc and Arber Xhekaj remain unsigned, and while there’s still time to get both deals wrapped up, each passing day keeps the chatter alive.
There’s no real panic here. Late-summer RFA signings happen all the time around the NHL. Even so, these two cases stand out because they feel pretty clean on paper, which naturally raises the question of why neither one is finished yet.
Montreal is not boxed in by the cap. Unlike the Anaheim Ducks, who have had to manage their remaining room carefully while working through major negotiations of their own, the Canadiens have the flexibility to bring both players back. And both are expected to be on the NHL roster this season.
Bolduc remains an intriguing young forward with room to grow, while Xhekaj gives Montreal the kind of physical presence and blue-line depth not every defenseman can provide. That said, neither player is in a spot where a huge long-term commitment necessarily makes sense.
In Bolduc’s case, the logic points toward a bridge deal. He has only two full NHL seasons behind him and still has work to do offensively.
The talent is obvious, but he hasn’t yet locked down a consistent scoring role or earned major offensive minutes. Last season made that clear: outside of Joe Veleno and Brendan Gallagher, Bolduc averaged fewer minutes than any Canadiens forward who was a regular in the lineup, finishing at 13:38 per game.
That kind of usage fits a short-term contract. It gives Bolduc time to keep developing, take on more responsibility and show what his ceiling really looks like before Montreal makes a bigger financial bet.
Xhekaj’s situation follows a similar path. He has carved out an identity in Montreal and brings something to the lineup that the other Canadiens defensemen don’t quite duplicate, but he has mostly been a sixth or seventh defenseman.
That’s usually not the profile of a player landing a major long-term deal. Add in the fact that Montreal has several young defensemen pushing for opportunity, and it’s not easy to project exactly where Xhekaj fits two or three years down the road.
So why are the deals still unresolved? That’s where the speculation starts.
There may be nothing dramatic behind it. Negotiations take time, agents and teams see numbers differently, and summer doesn’t always bring urgency.
But training camp is getting closer, and unsigned players tend to draw more attention the longer things drag on.
Around the league, the other four unsigned RFAs are Cutter Gauthier, Alexander Nikishin, Adam Fantilli and Simon Edvinsson. Those situations are different, though. Those are the kinds of names that can point toward major paydays and longer-term commitments, which makes the talks more complicated.
Bolduc and Xhekaj don’t seem to fall into that bucket, which is exactly why their status is worth watching. Maybe Kent Hughes is pushing to maximize value on both deals.
Maybe one or both players want more than Montreal has put on the table. Maybe the issue is term, role or contract structure.
Until something gets signed, nobody outside the negotiations knows for sure.
Hughes has earned a strong reputation for handling contracts and keeping Montreal’s salary structure in order, so there’s no reason to sound alarms. Still, the Canadiens would obviously prefer to have both players signed before camp opens. The simplest way to stop the questions is to get the deals done.
In Other News...
Canadiens Prospects Just Gave Fans Three New Reasons To Pay Attention
The Canadiens NCAA pipeline keeps giving the organization more to track as another college season approaches, and the latest group of prospects brings a little bit of everything. Michael Hage is headed back to Michigan, LJ Mooney is coming off a strong freshman year at Minnesota, and Timofei Runtso is moving into the college game after a productive WHL run. For a club still trying to build out its future, those are the kinds of names that can quietly start shaping the conversation around what comes next.
Mooney is the one who already looks closest to forcing a decision, since his play at Minnesota has put him on the radar for a possible entry-level contract if he keeps trending up. Hages return gives Montreal another important look at a player whose development path has already been tested, while Runtso adds another fresh layer of intrigue once he settles in at Miami. The Canadiens do not need all of these prospects to hit at once, but they do need some of them to keep moving, and this fall should tell the team a lot about which ones are ready to push forward. [Read more 🡒]
Kirby Dach Just Put A Canadiens Bounce-Back Season Back In Focus
Kirby Dach is back in Brossard as the Canadiens continue their lead-up to training camp, and his return puts a familiar offseason storyline back at the center of Montreals plans. After a limited and disappointing last season, the forward heads into the new year with a new contract in place as a restricted free agent, and his presence at the teams training base arrives as several teammates are already getting work in before camp officially opens.
The bigger question around Dach remains the same one that followed him through the spring: whether the flashes he showed in the playoffs can carry into a full bounce-back season. Montreal has spent much of the summer talking about growth, health and internal improvement, and Dach sits right in the middle of that conversation as one of the players whose next step could shape the teams outlook. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Goalie Situation Suddenly Hinges On Winnipegs Next Move
The Canadiens goaltending picture is suddenly tied to a bigger conversation out in Winnipeg, where any serious trade talk involving Connor Hellebuyck could ripple across the market and put Montreal in a spot it may have to address before long. Samuel Montembeault sits at the center of that uncertainty, with the current chatter suggesting the Canadiens could be watching the deadline landscape closely rather than treating their crease as settled.
Montembeaults future is already a talking point because a move before the deadline has been viewed as plausible, and the uncertainty only grows if the Jets decide to shift course. If Winnipeg starts asking around on Montreals goalie, the discussion could widen quickly, but for now it remains all speculation and there have been no confirmed transactions to report. [Read more 🡒]