i've been saying it for a while, he just doesn't seem that bright, his biggest issue seems to be his decision making imo.
I would tend to disagree with this assessment.
If you were watching Mailloux's play closely, his re-assignment to Laval was all but predictable.
I have watched this kid closely at all levels since his being drafted in 2021. Mailloux presents as a player who has a mixed bag of skills.
On the positive ledger, Mailloux has an NHL level shot, an excellent first pass and possesses high offensive vision. Negatively, when he first played in London, Mailloux was disastrously ineffective in the defensive zone. Some of you may remember that I thought he looked like he was playing ball hockey. He didn't close the gap on opposing forwards and, despite his size, he couldn't control opponents on the boards or in front of his net. I repeatedly warned that the accepted image of Mailloux being a big, physical defenseman was a total misrepresentation of what Mailloux's game and attributes were. I even suggested that a move to forward might be a viable option. I also found that he lacked stamina and, most worrisome, he lacked quickness and separation speed. I suggested that these deficiencies were perhaps the result of his extended absences from the game due to COVID, suspension and injury. I was hoping that, with additional playing time, Mailloux's skills would close the gap caused by his lost development time.
At Laval last year, and despite his statistical successes, I did not see the growth in Mailloux's skating that I had hoped for. Playing against superior opposition in the AHL, Mailloux was not able to transport the puck from the defensive zone, through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone on a consistent bases. That limitation was evident in his short stay in Montreal these past few weeks. While he can skate well without the puck ( as seen in his partial breakaway against Seattle) once Mailloux has the puck on his stick, it looks like he is pulling a canoe. When Mailloux is on the ice, the Canadiens are often pinned for long periods in their own zone.
Will Mailloux ever get that extra step is hard to say. But to write this kid off now would be a mistake born from impatience. The tools are there. There is no one on the Canadiens who has Mailloux's first pass. Not even Hutson. I have often said that the only certainty in hockey is the uncertainty of the rate/pace of a young player's development. Let him go back to Laval and play big minutes. Get stronger and faster. Let's assess Mailloux next training camp. If he again lacks the separation speed that caused him to be forechecked into irrelevance, then we have to consider that the window for this controversial draft choice maybe closing.
The reason for the demotion may be that both Guhle and Barron are ready to return. But I suspect that if an emergency rises and a call up is necessary, it will Engstrom that receives the call and not Mailloux.
