2023 Montreal Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: #16 Logan Mailloux

Introduction

Fans of the Montreal Canadiens finally got to see a full OHL season for 2021 first-rounder Logan Mailloux in 2022-23. The pandemic closure, suspension, and injury formed a trifecta that limited him to a mere 16 games there since 2019-20, notwithstanding a 19-game stint in HockeyEttan, the third Swedish division.

Still nursing the shoulder injury that ended his 2021-22 campaign, Mailloux missed the first few games of the year, during which time the London Knights were struggling. When he – and  Isaiah George – returned to their lineup, there was an immediate and lasting offensive boost that helped carry the team to first in their division and second in the Eastern Conference by the end of the year.

Mailloux finished fourth in team scoring with 53 points (25G, 23A) in 59 games, and tied for third in team scoring with another 24 points (8G, 16A) in 21 playoff games. The Knights ended up falling to the Peterborough Petes in the OHL Final.

With at last an extended look at Mailloux, it seems his offensive abilities are ready for a bigger challenge. The expectation is that he will turn professional this season, and we’ll soon find out how much of that translates to the next level.

Voting

With a low vote of 22 and a high vote in the top 10, the only consensus on Mailloux with our panel is that he’s a top-25 player in the system. Most of the votes clustered in the mid-to-high teens, which among this year’s group is no slight to his abilities.

T25U25 History

His history on our list is undoubtedly linked to his lack of playing time. He debuted at #15 after being drafted, but fell to #20 last year after suspension and injury limited his season to 12 games. As mentioned, finally getting an opportunity to evaluate him was beneficial to our panel, and to climb four spots with how strong this prospect group is shows that he’s trending up in perception.

History of #16

Strengths

Offensively, Mailloux is one of the most intriguing defensive prospects the Canadiens have. He skates far better than the typical defenceman of his size, and can take the puck end-to-end at times as if the defenders were standing still. He has a pro-ready shot and even when he can’t put it past goaltenders himself, it generates a lot of secondary opportunities as goalies are lucky just to have it hit them, let alone control it.

Pro-ready is perhaps even a bit modest when it comes to his shot; it would probably be the most potent weapon on the Canadiens’ blue line if you put him there tomorrow. He achieves terrifying velocity with a variety of different releases. A thundering one-timer is a favourite of his, but he can also let loose snapshots that travel at speeds illegal to drive at on most highways. Unsurprisingly, he is an extremely capable power-play operator thanks to his shot and this will arguably be the most translatable quality of his game at the next level.

He excels at activating from the blue line and creating offence by driving low in the zone. He doesn’t hesitate to come down to the net and make himself available, or to take pucks off the half-wall and drive it there himself. He completed a hat trick last season with a Michigan on his third goal, showing some legitimate variety of how he can put the puck in the net outside of his shot.

Physicality is also a definitive plus. With Mailloux standing at 6’3″ and around 215 pounds, he can be little fun to play against. Some of his more impressive defensive plays actually involved foregoing the physical aspect of his game, and instead using his reach to disrupt puck-carriers and clog passing lanes.

Weaknesses

This section will read very similarly to previous profiles on Mailloux, as the book on him remains relatively unchanged. He struggles in his own zone, primarily with positioning, but also at times with his decision-making in handling and moving the puck under pressure. As good as his forward skating is, there are some issues in how he pivots from backward skating, which can cause some issues with him defending against the rush.

His physicality, noted as a strength, can also be a bit of a double-edged sword in his own zone. He can be nearly impossible to play against when he uses it well, but a frustrating watch when he goes for some ill-advised hits that put him out of position. He still has work to do in terms of reading when and where to go for the finish along the walls and in the corners, ensuring that he doesn’t give up scoring chances to the opposition when doing so.

His decision-making did show signs of improvement during the  season as we saw him a little more reserved and willing to make short outlet passes rather than try to go for a hero skate. He’ll need to continue that trend as he transitions into professional hockey as those long skates won’t get any easier, and better transitional play will be vital in order to get him into the offensive zone where he shines.

Projection

If you ask 10 different parties, you’ll likely get 10 different answers as to what the future holds for Mailloux. Opinions range from his defensive shortcomings being enough to prevent him from playing in the NHL entirely, to his offensive abilities making him a dominant top-pair option in spite of any shortcomings.

The actual answer requires a little more nuance and can’t truly be known until we see what he can do at the professional level. Some have suggested he should go back to the OHL for an over-age year, which I would argue is nonsensical. London isn’t the place for him to improve his areas of need because they’ll keep using him for what he already is. Why try to work on defensive play at all when they know he could put up 30-plus goals from the point?

The Habs don’t need to turn him into a defensive stalwart and they’d be foolish to try. Surely, the previous management regime would never have taken the risk of drafting him if the plan was to convert him to a shot-blocking, net-front bruiser who scores two to five goals per season.

Erik Karlsson won the Norris last season while being largely a liability in his own zone. There is value to defencemen who excel at creating offence, and while Mailloux may not reach that level, they could feasibly turn him into a very effective second-pair option with the right development. His power-play abilities are of a type that the team just doesn’t have right now on the point, which should earn him a lot of opportunity there as long as he can bring his even-strength play to the right level.

There are shades of Brent Burns to his game, and they just need to figure out how to make him good enough in his own zone for those talents to shine at the other end.

Patrik Bexell and Matt Drake are joined by McKeen’s Hockey’s Brock Otten to discuss Mailloux’s game.

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