Canadiens Working Hard To Keep Xhekaj And Bolduc

A few days ago, Montreal Canadiens owner, president, and chief executive officer Geoff Molson was interviewed on Radio-Canada Sports and discussed several topics, including the Habs' two remaining RFAs: Arber Xhekaj and Zach Bolduc.

Unsurprisingly, Molson is very pleased with how last season went, and he believes that with another year of experience under their belt, the players will be eager to achieve even more this season and ready to start on the right foot.

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The owner doesn’t appear to be overly concerned by the fact that Kent Hughes has yet to manage to sign Bolduc and Xhekaj. When the topic was brought up, he replied:

Those are two important players for us, and we’re working very hard to keep them.

While both fans and the owner agree that Xhekaj is an important part of the organization, his use by coach Martin St-Louis suggests otherwise. The coach has repeatedly said he doesn’t have a problem with the player, but when push comes to shove, he just doesn’t give him enough ice time and won’t let him play on the penalty killing, opting instead to give more ice time to Lane Hutson. At 25 years old, no one would blame the blueliner for wanting to be in an organization that believes in him.

The gritty blueliner has played four NHL seasons, but he’s still battling to find a regular role, and what was a duel with Jayden Struble is starting to look like a Royal Rumble. David Reinbacher and Adam Engstrom have now made their way to the ring, and it’s looking like a big battle is set to take place at training camp. It’s a shame because the Canadiens do need more grit, physicality and size, but Xhekaj doesn’t look like a frontrunner right now, especially not after his limited use in the playoffs.

As for Bolduc, the hope is that he will become an important player for the Canadiens, but after just one season in the organization, it’s still early to qualify him as such. He finished the playoffs playing on the wing of the fourth line, which is likely not what Hughes had in mind when he traded Logan Mailloux to the St. Louis Blues for the young winger. Still, we saw some growth there during the postseason as he realized the type of game he needed to play to be useful to the team. However, it’s still early days to value what he brings and commit long-term, which likely explains why he remains unsigned.

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