Mailloux – Comparisons and Expectations
April 16, 2024
By Bob Trask
As Logan Mailloux prepares to make his first appearance in an NHL game, it’s worth looking at his path to the NHL. The 6-3 220 defencemen certainly has the physical profile of an NHL defenceman and this season he will finish third among Laval Rocket players in points. But the ride has been bumpy. From 2020 to 2023, Mailloux played in only 75 OHL games. In what was to be his first full year in the OHL, the season was cancelled by Covid so he played 19 games in Sweden. In the next season, he was limited to 12 games and finally, in the 2022-23 season Mailloux was able to develop his skills under game conditions with 59 games with the London Knights. A comparison can be drawn with another former London Knights defenceman, Evan Bouchard. Both are big, highly-skilled offensive defencemen with great shots and excellent skating ability. And both have been criticized at times for their defensive flaws. Bouchard, however, had 223 games in the OHL to refine his game or roughly three times as many as Mailloux. In his first year in the OHL, Bouchard seven goals and 36 points while Mailloux posted 14 goals and 47 points despite having only one season of development in junior hockey under their belt. Will Mailloux develop into another Bouchard? Who knows? One game is too early to draw conclusions but Habs fans should expect to see a player who may not display his full set of skills in his first game, a player who may show flashes of offensive brilliance accompanied by defensive gaffes. Patience should be preached. Very few players have achieved what Mailloux has done with such limited development time. Even at the start next season, he may not win a regular job on the blueline but if his development continues, Canadiens’ fans could look forward to seeing a dominant player. Logan Mailloux is a unique player who has followed a unique path to his first NHL game.