Cowan: Canadiens' rebuild takes another step in right direction

Montreal Gazette

01-07-2025

Montreal Canadiens
By
You have to think the Canadiens would have selected Zachary Bolduc if he had been available when they had the 31st overall pick at the 2021 NHL Draft.
Bolduc, a right-winger, was ranked 17th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting, and the St. Louis Blues took the Trois-Rivières native with the 17th pick.
Former Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin ended up taking defenceman Logan Mailloux, who had been ranked 23rd by NHL Central Scouting, with the 31st pick. That created a firestorm because Mailloux had renounced himself from the draft, saying he didn't deserve the honour or privilege of being selected that year after secretly photographing an 18-year-old woman engaged in a sexual act with him while in Sweden in 2020 and sharing the picture and her identity with his teammates. Mailloux was charged in Sweden with defamation and offensive photography and was fined about $2,000.
On Tuesday, Canadiens GM Kent Hughes got Bolduc from the Blues in exchange for Mailloux. The trade involving two 22-year-olds could be looked at like the Canadiens moving up 14 spots at the 2021 draft.
Bolduc had 19-17-36 totals in 72 games last season with the Blues, while Mailloux had 12-21-33 totals in 63 games with the AHL's Laval Rocket and 2-2-4 totals in seven games with the Canadiens. Mailloux became expendable after Hughes acquired 25-year-old defenceman Noah Dobson — also a right-hand shot — from the New York Islanders last Friday in exchange for the 16th and 17th overall picks at that night's NHL Draft and 23-year-old forward Emil Heineman.
Hughes said it wasn't a case of things not working out with Mailloux — who has struggled with the defensive side of the game — but after acquiring Dobson, it allowed him to look for some much-needed offensive help at the forward position.
Hughes likes Bolduc's offensive potential, noting he almost hit the 20-goal mark last season while averaging only 12:48 of ice time per game. Hughes added that the 6-foot, 187-pound Bolduc is a good skater and improved a lot last season with his physical play and forechecking. Bolduc also has 97 games of NHL experience, during which he has posted 24-21-45 totals. Mailloux has played only eight games in the NHL, with 2-3-5 totals.
'I think when you can add experience and keep it young, that would be the ideal,' Hughes said when asked about the mix of youth and experience as the Canadiens head into Year 4 of their rebuild after becoming the youngest team to make the playoffs last season. 'I think that's the case in Noah Dobson's situation, where you get a young guy who played in the NHL as a teenager. He's 25, but he's got a significant amount of experience and, at the same time, can grow with our group. So that's important.'
The Canadiens lost some experience when the NHL free-agent market opened Tuesday and centre Christian Dvorak, 29, signed a one-year, US$5.4-million contract with the Philadelphia Flyers, while winger Joel Armia, 32, signed a two-year, US$5-million contract with the Los Angeles Kings.
'Bolduc is a little bit younger, he's not a rookie, and he's coming from a team that had a lot of experience around him, which we think is certainly helpful,' Hughes said. 'But the reality is we're not going to put the perfect team together in the course of one summer.'
The Canadiens' roster is loaded with former first-round draft picks, including Bolduc, Dobson, Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Patrik Laine, Ivan Demidov, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, Kaiden Guhle and Matheson. There's also Lane Hutson, a second-round pick.
When Jeff Gorton, the executive vice-president of hockey operations, met with the media last Thursday, he said he wouldn't consider it a disappointment if the Canadiens missed the playoffs next season as management keeps the focus on its long-term goal of building a team that won't just make the playoffs, but be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender for several years in a row.
'This is a big weekend for us and it's a big summer for us, but we're not going to do anything that's stupid,' Gorton said.
The Canadiens have made some very smart moves since that statement in acquiring Dobson and Bolduc, while keeping two top prospects in defenceman David Reinbacher and centre Michael Hage, along with veteran defenceman Matheson.
'I think we can get in the playoffs again next year,' Hughes said. 'I hope that we do. I think when you're asked if it's a disappointment (missing the playoffs) it's a tricky thing in terms of the messaging. There's a messaging to the public, there's a messaging to your team. I hope we make the playoffs.
'As a roster, we probably have a better chance than maybe what we did last year at this time,' Hughes added. 'But we found our way and then other teams that maybe were expected to didn't. So we still got to play the games. I think we 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 in.'
With good reason.