Prospect Info: Logan Mailloux Part 3 The Only Hockey Talk Thread

[Rapala]

Letting him play bottom pairing at the NHL level for the remainder of the season and coaching him on his defensive weaknesses is a good idea. Let him play PP2, as well. He won't be able improve his skating right now, but he can improve the speed of his decisions.

I see a lot of Marty with his head in his hands in the not so distant future.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

TBF, he's not terrible ALL the time on defense, it's just that when he makes a mistake, it's a spectacularly dumb one. I don't think he's hopeless, he just has to find a way to cut that one part of his game way down.

 

[Rapala]

Mailloux would be more interesting if the habs didn’t already have a lot of offensive defenders, and a shortage of shutdown guys. I think this is intentional, as the value of defensive defensemen is often low. The habs could use Mailloux’s shot, but they don’t have the right partner for him, and I doubt his offense will balance the defensive lapses in the playoffs.

Mailloux may have been overconfident so far, and he could be much better if he puts in lot of effort in the off season. I doubt there is much hope for his decision making.

I actually think there is a ton of appreciation for Defensmen with a Capital D. Guhle is often touted as currently being our best defensemen. Reinbacher is meant to be our right handed version of Kaiden Guhle and the counter balance our Dcorps needs. For all his short comings David Savard also gets a lot of praise for his stationary defending. Most of the people I tend to read understand the value of Defensive defensemen.
There is no way to support a Lane Hutson without that balance.

 

[dcyhabs]

I actually think there is a ton of appreciation for Defensmen with a Capital D. Guhle is often touted as currently being our best defensemen. Reinbacher is meant to be our right handed version of Kaiden Guhle and the counter balance our Dcorps needs. For all his short comings David Savard also gets a lot of praise for his stationary defending. Most of the people I tend to read understand the value of Defensive defensemen.
There is no way to support a Lane Hutson without that balance.

I’m thinking more of GMs, but they may be coming around too.

It can be tough to predict how a new guy is going to fit with the system and players. The habs need some shutdown guys at F and at D. Mailloux won’t be that without massive changes.

 

[HabzSauce]

. Mailloux's future with the Canadiens is as a power forward, a conversion that should be easier to effect than most think based on his skill set.

Would be a dream to have him on RW. Would make our bottom 6 so much more dynamic.

Last time a D transitioned to F was Big Buff. I really hope Hugo is at least THINKING about trying Mailloux out as a forward

 

[26Mats]

In my experience, some improvement is possible: a poor skater can become a less poor skater and a good skater can become a bit better skater. But except in the rare occasion, by the age of 20, what you see is largely what you get.

Suzuki is a good example of a player improving his skating after junior. Always, a skillful player, Suzuki lacked high end skating speed. That limitation was shown in the WJC, where Suzuki, facing elite talent, was largely ineffectual. His skating deficiency was why Vegas was willing to trade him away. Since coming to Montreal, Suzuki , while not an elite skater, was able to gain that extra step that made him a budding star in the NHL.

I have followed Mailloux's development/progression closely since he was drafted in 2021. To this writer, Mailloux lacks first step quickness and acceleration that would allow him to avoid forechecking pressure and to effectively transport the puck out of the defensive zone. It's a flaw that I don't see is fixable. All you had to do is watch him last night as the team was under pressure in the defensive zone and Mailloux (and others) were not able to cope and be effective against a heavy sustained forecheck. Mailloux is not an NHL level defenceman as he lacks the necessary skating ability. Just compare him to Luke Hughes who, with a couple of strides, was able to shed forechecking pressure and the puck was exiting the Devils zone.

With a back-end comprised of Savard, Xhekaj, Mailloux and, to a lesser degree, Hutson, we were caught slow against a speedy Devils team. And that overall lack of mobility will be fatal to any successful re-build unless this shortcoming is addressed.

Mailloux has excellent offensive talent. He sees the ice well, he has elite passing ability and a pro level shot. He's tall, has good reach and a nose for the net. Once he is in motion, Mailloux has NHL skating. Mailloux's future with the Canadiens is as a power forward, a conversion that should be easier to effect than most think based on his skill set.

I have no problem seeing Mailloux as a forward. Byfuglien was good in that role in Chicago's cup win.

 

[HuGort]

Acquire another veteran like Carrier can put up with some of Mailloux defense misques.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

I see a lot of Marty with his head in his hands in the not so distant future.

He will be joined by many of the hopeful Montreal fans.

 

[Mayday1980]

I agree with Chesters' viewpoint on the first step acceleration, it's still not NHL calibre and may never get to it tbh but I think there are "workarounds" that can mask/protect against constant exploitation of this weakness in the future.

I think it all boils down to giving him another 80 game season in the AHL with "first dman up" rights to get him into NHL games to get used the the speed. He's made some strides in his defensive reads and positioning, the big issue is his puck retrieval and movement with pressure and when he initiates zone exits by skating.

I'm of the opinion that if he plays meaner opponents will give him that 1/2 second of extra space he needs to cover the acceleration gap. The real issue is whether his defensive IQ/hockey sense in his zone continues to improve. I'd be very hesitant to trade him in the next 2 years unless you're 100% sure the player coming back is comparable in talent level.

His offensive acumen is excellent for a dman and his offensive hockey IQ is strong. We still need to remember he has what, 200 total games played from OHL -AHL-NHL combined. There's lots of room for improvement here.

 

[DAChampion]

Aside, but I'm honestly confused how offensive and defensive IQ can drastically differ. It's like we're discussing verbal skills and spatial visual skills.

Do they use different sections of the brain?

 

[Mayday1980]

Aside, but I'm honestly confused how offensive and defensive IQ can drastically differ. It's like we're discussing verbal skills and spatial visual skills.

Do they use different sections of the brain?

Its more of a mindset thing. You have to switch gears between the two and it's a thought process that's susceptible to future thinking rather than focus on the present

 

[DAChampion]

Its more of a mindset thing. You have to switch gears between the two and it's a thought process that's susceptible to future thinking rather than focus on the present

Can you elaborate?

 

[Mayday1980]

Can you elaborate?

It's a different type of scanning and reading the play. In my personal opinion your Dman defensive reads involve a combination of knowing your d-partners planned movement and then using past knowledge or what the coaches have told you regarding the opposing offence's tendencies.

Offence requires a similar pattern recognition regarding your teammates but anticipation of how open ice and player movement will create or close passing and skating opportunities.

Alot of offensive dmen can do paragraph 2 (because for 80% of players scoring is more fun), but struggle with paragraph 1 because their brain skips the puck retrieval part of defense and starts scanning for offensive options subconsciously. It's why you see young dmen get caught puck watching at times....

If the person is smart/has enough hockey sense they'll start to anticipate player movements based on past tendencies. Mallioux has not played enuff hockey IMO to determine if he's gonna reach NHL level defensive reads.

 

[Team_Spirit]

Lionel Messi 7pts in last 7gp

 

[Kimota]

Aside, but I'm honestly confused how offensive and defensive IQ can drastically differ. It's like we're discussing verbal skills and spatial visual skills.

Do they use different sections of the brain?

It seems so. All offensive Ds I've ever seen were awful defensively. That explains Matherson. Back in the day Paul Coffey was absolutely abysmal defensively but he's still one of the most incredible hockey machine I've ever seen. But it's easier to swallow when the guy puts up a 100 points.

 

[Kimota]

Mailloux would be more interesting if the habs didn’t already have a lot of offensive defenders, and a shortage of shutdown guys. I think this is intentional, as the value of defensive defensemen is often low. The habs could use Mailloux’s shot, but they don’t have the right partner for him, and I doubt his offense will balance the defensive lapses in the playoffs.

Mailloux may have been overconfident so far, and he could be much better if he puts in lot of effort in the off season. I doubt there is much hope for his decision making.

They are mediocre on the right, esp. right now. And I don't have a problem having Ghule playing with him. It doesn't have to be straight offensive D with defensive D. Esp. since Ghule can play both.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Aside, but I'm honestly confused how offensive and defensive IQ can drastically differ. It's like we're discussing verbal skills and spatial visual skills.

Do they use different sections of the brain?

They are exactly same as it is simple pattern recognition and the patterns are identical on both sides of the ice. The issue lies with a players interest in treating both ends of the ice with equal urgency and attention to detail. Too many forwards see defence as a chore and offence as the primary reason that they are on the ice. This is where winners and losers are separated. Forwards are often trying to reserve as much energy as possible in order to counter attack instead of blowing through their reserves to help defend. As a dman I hated to watch it happen and at times was happy to see them get hammered while trying to perform high risk moves lol.

People who claim that a player has low defensive IQ and High offensive IQ or vice versa have no idea what they are talking about. They may have more offensive knowledge due to not paying attention in video sessions regarding defensive play and not paying attention during practice but that is not an IQ issue, it is a selfish #@%$ problem..... Players have differing levels of hockey IQ, unfortunately the ones with the skills to take advantage of their IQ in the offensive end do not receive the same instant gratification in the defensive end of scoring a goal and find defensive hockey unrewarding, therefore for lesser players to be more concerned with it.

This is why it is so important for coaches to get their best players to buy in to a 200 foot game. This is part of the culture/character that HuGo and Marty are so emphatic about as it is the key to turning this team into a contender. They have identified IQ and character as two main player traits to build a winner around.

 

[dcyhabs]

They are mediocre on the right, esp. right now. And I don't have a problem having Ghule playing with him. It doesn't have to be straight offensive D with defensive D. Esp. since Ghule can play both.

I’m not convinced Mailloux can have a mediocre impact. People on the board constantly bitch about Matheson who is playing top D, too many minutes, hardest competition, stuff he’s not suited for, but there is no one else. I expect Mailloux to look significantly worse against bottom 6 forwards. Some nice offense, though.

 

[Scotianhab]

Mailloux wasn’t drafted for being a shutdown D. Give him another season in Laval next year to help with his development with the odd call up. It won’t hurt him.