Canadiens trade defenceman Logan Mailloux to Blues for forward Zack Bolduc
The Montreal Canadiens acquired Bolduc from the St. Louis Blues for defenceman Logan Mailloux minutes before NHL free agency opened at noon ET on Tuesday.
'I met some great people and created friends for life in St. Louis,' the forward said during a video conference. 'But on the other hand, the Montreal Canadiens are the team I grew up watching. I'm super excited.'
Bolduc later added he wasn't expecting the trade 'at all.'
The 22-year-old from Trois-Rivières, Que., found it strange when his phone lit up with a call from Blues general manager Doug Armstrong soon after a workout Tuesday morning in Quebec City, where he trains during the off-season.
'I said to myself, 'he doesn't call often, why is he calling?'' said Bolduc, who's entering the final season of his entry-level deal. 'At the start of the conversation everything seemed normal, then at one point he mentioned that he traded me.
'When he said he'd traded me to the Canadiens, I was a bit shocked. Super excited, but shocked, because to be honest, it's a childhood dream.'
Bolduc had 19 goals and 17 assists in 72 games with the Blues last season, adding one assist in seven playoff games.
The six-foot, 187-pound winger described himself as a strong skater and shooter who's not afraid to impose himself physically.
Canadiens GM Kent Hughes highlighted Bolduc's skating, potential and style of play.
'We saw a lot of improvement in his physical play this season,' Hughes said at the Canadiens' practice facility. 'He also has potential offensively. In junior, he was a really good offensive player … and while playing less than 13 minutes a game, he almost scored 20 goals this past season.'
Mailloux, of Windsor, Ont., produced 12 goals and 21 assists in 63 games with the American Hockey League's Laval Rocket last season. He was an AHL all-star in 2024 and 2025.
The 22-year-old right-shot blueliner added two goals and two assists in seven games with the Canadiens in the NHL.
Bolduc was drafted 17th overall by the Blues in 2021.
That same draft, then-Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin made the controversial decision to select Mailloux with the 31st overall pick, despite the blueliner publicly asking not to be chosen following an incident in Sweden. While on loan to SK Lejon in 2020, Mailloux was fined by Swedish authorities after admitting to two charges related to sharing, without her consent, a photo of a woman performing a sexual act.
Mailloux said Tuesday he's tried to turn that negative situation into a positive.
"It's not just in the rearview for me, I think it's something that I carry with me every day. It's something that I want to make a positive impact," he said. "In the past few years I feel like I've grown a lot as a person off the ice. I've been around the community in Montreal and I look forward to getting to St. Louis and being able to make a positive impact around the community there.
"Being able to turn that into a positive is something I've really tried to do."
The trade comes a few days after the Canadiens acquired Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders and signed the right-shot defenceman to an eight-year, US$76-million contract.
Via free agency, the Canadiens also added goalie Kaapo Kahkonen and forward Samuel Blais on one-year contracts Tuesday. The value of each deal was not announced.
Montreal later signed forward Alex Belzile and defenceman Nate Clurman to one-year, two-way deals.
The Canadiens exceeded expectations last season by reaching the playoffs ahead of schedule in their rebuild.
Hughes wouldn't guarantee Montreal's return to the post-season, but believes his group is better-placed to reach the playoffs than 12 months ago.
"I hope we make the playoffs. I think that as a roster, we probably have a better chance than maybe what we did last year at this time,' he said. 'We found our way in and other teams that maybe were expected to didn't, so you still got to play the games.
'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.'
Meanwhile, centre Christian Dvorak is leaving the Canadiens and joining the Philadelphia Flyers on a one-year, $5.4-million contract. Dvorak, 29, had 12 goals and 21 assists in 82 games last season.
Winger Joel Armia, who had 11 goals and 18 assists in 81 games in Montreal last season, signed a two-year, $5-million deal with the Los Angeles Kings.
Hughes said he discussed extensions with both players, noting that Armia 'wanted to stay in Montreal.'
'If we were able to equal the offer, I think Armia would have chosen to stay,' he said.
Next up, Hughes has a second-line centre on his wish list, but said he's comfortable with a mix of Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, Jake Evans and Owen Beck down the middle.
'We were always going to address the centre position on the trade market,' he said. 'We haven't done it yet, we're ready to start the season like this, but at the same time we'll keep working the phones.'
Hughes wouldn't reveal any details about contract negotiations with rookie-of-the-year Lane Hutson and veteran defenceman Mike Matheson, who both became eligible for contract extensions Tuesday afternoon.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 1, 2025.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
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