Zachary Bolduc's contract standoff with the Montreal Canadiens just got a new wrinkle out of Pittsburgh.
On Thursday, the Pittsburgh Penguins signed winger Ville Koivunen to an eight-year contract extension. The cap hit landed at four million dollars.
Koivunen has 39 games played, 2 goals, 5 assists and 7 points on the season, along with a minus-10 rating. That is not exactly a body of work that screams long-term commitment.
Kyle Dubas made the bet anyway. And it raises an obvious question for Kent Hughes across the border.
Bolduc is sitting on a cap hit of 863,334 dollars with the Canadiens right now. He put up 78 games, 12 goals, 18 assists and 30 points last season, with 3 game-winning goals.
His last 10 games told a rougher story. Just 2 goals, no assists and a minus-8 rating over that stretch.
Would Hughes ever hand Bolduc the same kind of long runway Dubas just gave Koivunen? Do not bet on it.
Why Hughes won't copy the Koivunen blueprint
Hughes does not operate that way. He saves the eight-year extensions for players who have already proven it over a full season, not projects.
Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov both got eight-year deals from Hughes. But they earned those numbers with complete, convincing rookie campaigns first.
Bolduc has not delivered that kind of season yet. The Canadiens GM has leaned on bridge deals instead when the picture is still unclear.
Kirby Dach signed a four-year bridge worth 3,362,500 dollars. Alex Newhook took a similar four-year deal at 2.9 million. That is the model Hughes trusts.
There is a cautionary tale sitting in Carolina too. Jesperi Kotkaniemi got an eight-year extension at 4,820,000 dollars after the Hurricanes poached him off Montreal.
This season Kotkaniemi has 42 games played, 2 goals, 7 assists and 9 points. That cap hit is still sitting on Carolina's books years later.
An eight-year term on an unproven forward is a lot like buying a house before the inspection. Sometimes it holds up fine. Sometimes the foundation cracks two years in.
Hughes watched that Kotkaniemi contract unfold from the other side of the ledger. He is not going to walk into the same trap with Bolduc, no matter how loud the Koivunen comparisons get.
The Canadiens finished 48-24-10 for 106 points this season, sixth overall in the league. Bolduc's price tag is only going to climb the longer this standoff drags into the summer.
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Should Kent Hughes take the Koivunen gamble and lock up Zachary Bolduc long-term?
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