What Should Habs Expect from Zachary Bolduc

As his rookie season went along with the Blues, it seemed that Bolduc’s greatest asset was his powerful wrister from the slot. This is a huge reason why he scored 13 of his 19 goals in the final 24 games of the season with the Blues.

If the Habs can find the best way to utilize that part of his game regularly, then the team could easily just add a 25-30 goal scorer for this upcoming campaign. It will be interesting if he can pick up where he left off last season.

In a perfect world, Bolduc would be the team’s line centre and play with Patrik Laine and Ivan Demidov but it doesn’t seem realistic as he’s barely played centre. Unfortunately, the most likely scenario for Bolduc is for him to start on the 3rd line with lesser talent, such as Joe Veleno and Alex Newhook.

The fact that these guys aren’t as skilled as some of Bolduc’s previous linemates last season, it is very possible his 5-on-5 goal totals drop. On the other hand, Bolduc is a strong skater with a decent hockey sense who could find ways to exploit opponents’ 3rd pairings. A line of Bolduc-Veleno-Newhook may not look pretty, but if Bolduc can get his linemates going, this line could provide some much-needed secondary scoring.

Another aspect that Bolduc brings besides his heavy shot is that he’s a great forechecker who isn’t afraid to throw big hits. He is essentially a better version than former Emil Heineman, whom they traded to the New York Islanders for Noah Dobson at the NHL Entry Draft.

Bolduc also plays a strong 2-way game and has said he’d be willing to take on a role as a penalty killer, after the Habs lost 3 key penalty killers (Joel Armia, Christian Dvorak and David Savard) in the off-season. With his style of play, he would be a great penalty killer using his speed and physical side to pressure the opposition’s power play.

Bolduc will likely score a little more goals  than get assists for this upcoming season, but he does have an underrated playmaking game, as seen in his highlight video above.

At the end of the day, we as Habs fans should expect Zach Bolduc to score about 20-25 goals and around 40-45 points for next season. He should also be among the top hitters on the Habs with his grinding style of play that will wear down his opponents.

Bolduc may suffer from a sophomore slump, but with his style of play, let’s remain optimistic for him to continue producing. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see just how he adapts to playing with his home province Montreal Canadiens.

What are your expectations for Bolduc next season?