St. Louis Blues Should Not Trade Bolduc to Canadiens – Hockey Writer – St. Louis Blues

Much to our disappointment, there aren’t any blockbuster trades for the 2025 NHL offseason. There were a few moves, but overall it was a quiet summer of trading. However, there have been some interesting ones, most notably the St. Louis Blues trading Zach Bolduc to the Montreal Canadiens for Logan Melux.

Bolduc has been a solid performer for the Blues in the 2024-25 season, totaling 19 goals and 36 points in 79 games. Melux, on the other hand, has very little NHL experience, although he performed well in the AHL with the Laval Rocket. Even so, it’s still a strange deal for the Blues, and one that was already uncertain looks even more dubious at the start of the season as they’ve struggled to start the season.

Mailloux struggled early on

The Blues have had an interesting offseason, even though general manager Doug Armstrong hasn’t been very active. They clearly see center as a weak link. It started by trading Boldak to the Canadiens and signing Pius Suter and Nik Bjugstad in free agency to replace him. Suter is coming off a career season, so adding both would seem like an upgrade to Bolduc, but how much of an upgrade?

Bolduc was one of the Blues’ most valuable players last season. His overall game value was 14.7 goals against (GAR) and 2.4 wins (WAR). Both numbers rank fourth among all Blues skaters, and remember, he’s only 22 years old and doesn’t turn 23 until February. He looks like a young player on the rise, which is why it was surprising that the Blues traded for him. You don’t see promising young players like Boldak being traded away very often.

Bolduc is off to a strong start with the Canucks and is currently on pace to score 23 goals and 35 points while playing in a mid-sixth/third-line role. But it has been a difficult campaign for Melux, who has not scored in nine games with the Blues and his impact is worrying.

It’s still early in the 2025-26 season, so you’re going to get some weird advanced stats until about 20-25 games in, but Mailloux’s numbers aren’t pretty. He has an expected GAR (xGAR) of -2.6 and a GAR of -3.7, which are the second-worst and worst rates among Blue skaters.

It will take more than 10-15 games for GAR and xGAR to stabilize, but even Mailloux’s expected goals rate is concerning. His expected goals against rate (xG%) of 42.36% ranks third among Blue Team players; only Alexandre Texier and Oskar Sundqvist are worse.

The Blues are also outscored 13-1 when Melus is on the court, but it’s unfair to blame it all on him. The Blues goalkeeper has failed to stop beach balls this season. Still, Melux struggled, and it was hard to argue with that. That’s not to say he won’t be successful in the long run. He’s 22 and still growing, but that makes the deal even more curious.

Normally, the Blues are in winning mode, so why trade Bolduc, who has proven he can play in the NHL, for someone with minimal NHL experience and no guarantee of contributing in the short term? Bolduc will likely be their second-line center, and he’ll likely be an improvement over what they currently have at the position.

Bruce should trade Schenn

Looking back at the offseason, it’s easy to say the Blues should have done this or that. Ironically, Suter is the team’s leading scorer with 5 goals and 9 points in 15 games. That might be more indicative of the team’s struggles, but he’s playing well. The same goes for Bjugstad, who scored four goals in 15 games.

They are not the problem. Instead, their top six centers have struggled. Robert Thomas, who has eight points in 11 games, is off to a slow start by his standards, but Brayden Schenn isn’t quite where he needs to be at a second-line center.

Schenn has just six points in 15 games, and his underlying metrics have been poor to say the least. His xGAR is -2.1 and GAR is -1.6. Team save percentage plays into that metric to some extent, but he’s been declining over the years. His xGAR last season was minus-2.1, and his foot speed is not what it used to be.

Schenn is the captain of the Blues, so it’s not as simple as saying, “Hey, trade that player.” But his name appeared in rumors around the trade deadline last season. He was on Nick Kypreos’ Sportsnet trade board a week before the deadline, with teams like the New Jersey Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs reportedly interested in the veteran center.

Armstrong has made bold moves before, so trading the franchise captain may be something he’s willing to accept. It looks like he may be thinking about it again, as the Blues are in a 5-8-2 formation and looking to shake things up. Frank Seravalli reported earlier this week that he was keeping a close eye on Schenn as his no-trade clause changed from the full NTC to 15 teams over the summer.

Maybe Armstrong regrets it now, but he should have traded Schenn at last season’s trade deadline or in the offseason so they could keep Bolduc. Both players are at different stages of their careers. Schenn was on the back nine, while Bolduc was just getting started and had a bright future.

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Trading Bolduc isn’t the only reason the Blues have a difficult start to the 2025-26 season, but they could use a young 22-year-old center with potential behind Thomas. Maybe Melux can eventually make it work and become a top-four defender, but it was an odd deal at the time and the early returns suggest the skepticism was right. As 2C has no long-term solution for the time being, the Blues may regret it for a long time.

Advanced statistics from Natural Stat Trick, Evolving Hockey