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Canadiens Player Grades: Bolduc Potential For Improvements
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- Canadiens Player Grades: Bolduc Potential For Improvements
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
From a team standpoint, the Montreal Canadiens enjoyed a fantastic season, but certain individuals, including Zachary Bolduc, clearly went through ebbs and flows.
That's par for the course in the NHL, especially when we're discussing a player who joined a new team, with a bevy of new factors to consider.
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The standards in Bolduc's case were raised significantly due to his excellent start with the Habs. He managed to score a goal in each of his first three games with the Canadiens, giving many the impression that he had somehow unlocked a previously unreported level of potential.
Such is life when evaluating a player in real time.
The peaks seem higher, and the valleys are difficult to escape.
Bolduc would finish the year with 12 goals and 18 assists in 78 games, fewer than the 19 goals and 17 assists in 72 games he produced the previous seasons with the Blues.
From production standpoint, you could argue he had an underwhelming regular season, and you'd have plenty of evidence to support that theory.
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Zachary Bolduc 5v5 Impact
If we filter the results to only include 5v5 production, it becomes quite clear that Bolduc did most of his damage at even-strength.
23 of his 30 points came at 5v5, which means he scored over 76% of his points in that situation. This places him sixth overall among all Canadiens forwards in 2025-26.
However, it should be noted that Bolduc played a lot more than some of the players behind him in the raw production rankings.
Once we filter the results via ice time (per 60), Bolduc's overall impact drops considerably. He produced 1.5 points per 60 at 5v5, less than the vast majority of the regularly-used forwards in the lineup. He still managed to maintain a higher production rate than Josh Anderson, Jake Evans, and Brendan Gallagher, but at this point, we're comparing apples to much, much older applies.
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Simply put, Bolduc's production left a lot to be desired, especially from a consistency standpoint.
Bolduc Underlying Numbers
Even though he had a hard time providing secondary, or rather tertiary offence, it must be said that Bolduc's underlying numbers were very encouraging.
He was one of the few players who almost reached a 50 percent share of shots, and his expected goal share was 51.2%, indicating that there's more production to be had if Bolduc improves upon a few of his clear-cut weaknesses, including his lack of accuracy.
For the most part, Bolduc will either shoot miles wide, or hit the netminder directly in the logo, mitigating the value of his high-danger scoring opportunities.
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Regardless, the numbers tell us there's a chasmic difference between his production and his underlying numbers, which means there's still some potential left to uncover.
Powerplay Value
The first powerplay unit receives the bulk of the ice time, a situation we must keep in mind when discussing Bolduc's use on the second powerplay unit.
In that vein, Bolduc finished sixth among Canadiens forwards in points per 60 on the man advantage (2.9), ahead of Brendan Gallagher (2.8), Kirby Dach (2.4), Alex Texier (1.3), and Oliver Kapanen (0.7).
The only player who mostly featured on the second powerplay unit that finished with a higher production rate was Alex Newhook (4.2).
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For a player who is usually much more comfortable on the rush than on the cycle, it's fair to say Bolduc provided a reasonable amount of offence given his usage.
Bolduc Player Grade
It's tempting to bump Bolduc's grade up due to his performance in the playoffs. He wasn't Montreal's MVP, but he did manage to register his name on the scoresheet on six occasions, while also providing an honest effort most shifts.
He gave the Canadiens energy when they needed most, upping his physical play both in all three zones.
You could even argue that Bolduc was built for the playoffs, rather than the regular season.
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But all things considered, including a tumultuous regular season, we're handing Bolduc a passing grade, giving the 23-year-old winger plenty of room for improvement next year.
Zachary Bolduc Grade : C+ (67-69%)
Montreal Canadiens and Nick Suzuki statistics via Natural Stat Trick .
Previously published Canadiens player grades:
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