Zach Bolduc Signs 4 Year Deal On Sunday.

The Montreal Canadiens signed another member of their young roster on Sunday when they agreed to terms on a new deal with former 1st round pick Zachary Bolduc, but this is an unusually high-risk type of deal for the usually shrewd Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton.

According to a report from National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman, Bolduc and the Canadiens have come to terms on a 4 year contract that will carry an average annual value and salary cap hit of $4.2 million per season.

While the cap hit for Bolduc is reasonable enough, the Canadiens will be handing over considerable leverage to Bolduc by signing him to a 4 year term. At the end of the 4 year term Bolduc will become an unrestricted free agent in the very first year that he becomes eligible to do so. That will become a significant point of leverage if negotiations drag out, and as we have seen this summer they did just that with this signing coming just a little over 2 weeks before the start of the regular season.

Bolduc had a solid showing last season with the Canadiens, his first with that organization, scoring 12 goals and adding 18 assists for a total of 30 points over 78 regular season games.