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

In order to improve the team i much rather trade a position of strength for a position of weakness.

With Reinbacher, Mailloux, Engstrom, we have too many D men. Mailloux can be traded as a package for a young quality 2C (not the Dach, Newhook experiment).
Obviously if the asking price is too high, we can keep him it's not an issue

That's only 3 dmen you listed, and just 2 of them are RD
 
In order to improve the team i much rather trade a position of strength for a position of weakness.

With Reinbacher, Mailloux, Engstrom, we have too many D men. Mailloux can be traded as a package for a young quality 2C (not the Dach, Newhook experiment).
Obviously if the asking price is too high, we can keep him it's not an issue
RD is absolutely not a position of strength lol.
 
I think he will be fine. He will slowly improve his defense over time.

it's possible as he has missed a ton of time and defensemen often need a lot of development time. For me I don't believe he will as the IQ just does not seem to there and I don't trust any blueliner that just gives up on a play when he's the only one back. I would have benched him for a week for shit like that but I'm old school and I hear you can't treat kids tough these days.

For me I think he will be a NHLer, just a question of how much offense can he produce to live with the poor decisions and at times just lazy plays. I still believe in him making the NHL as the offense imo is legit. I don't know if he will be looked at more of as a 7th D PP Specialist but on that alone he can be a full time NHLer imo. With his frame, mobility, willingness to get his nose dirty, seems well liked by his teammates (Dobes was rocking a Mailloux jersey at the Laval game).

This season I have said I wonder if Mailloux and Joshua Roy are just in that really tough spot in their development where they are kind of too good for the AHL but not yet ready for the NHL and so they may be in a way bored, or thinking what am I doing here as I should be in the NHL making the big bucks. I don't have any info just wild speculation as both at times just looked disinterested, they clearly have had elite production or near so for their age/experience but also have major holes in their games that are going to be exposed at the NHL level.
 
I don't think he's lazy, but his reads are a bit slow sometimes. I really feel that once he improves his positioning a bit he will become much more effective. He certainly won't be perfect, but that's ok.
 
yes I don't think he is either, he's just has no IQ
I think he's honestly a fairly smart player, it seems like his issue is focus. He generally makes the right move when he's in the zone but it seems like sometimes he gets unfocused and makes lackadaisical plays that look like they're low IQ
 
I think he's honestly a fairly smart player, it seems like his issue is focus. He generally makes the right move when he's in the zone but it seems like sometimes he gets unfocused and makes lackadaisical plays that look like they're low IQ
In the Dzone he's completely lost sometimes and he makes dumb play even in the 3rd period when they have the lead and he should keep it simple
 
In the Dzone he's completely lost sometimes and he makes dumb play even in the 3rd period when they have the lead and he should keep it simple
I think that stems from his focus issues as well - he's like a talented golfer that can't break 80 because he can't focus for a full 18
 
I think that stems from his focus issues as well - he's like a talented golfer that can't break 80 because he can't focus for a full 18
I'm saying he has to no hockey IQ to be respectful to be honest because I would an other term from what I heard about him.

He’s a nice guy though ! My cousin who made the Habs rookie camp told me he was the coolest guy in the locker room. Was talking to everyone even if you where not drafted
 
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I think he's honestly a fairly smart player, it seems like his issue is focus. He generally makes the right move when he's in the zone but it seems like sometimes he gets unfocused and makes lackadaisical plays that look like they're low IQ
Perhaps I'm on an island alone with respect to my views on Mailloux, but I don't think the issues holding this young player back have anything to do with focus or a low hockey I.Q. , but one of mobility. The NHL is a predatory league where opponents identify an opponent's weakness and try to take advantage of same. I have watched Mailloux closely since his draft and have seen most of his games both in in OHL, when he played with London and in the AHL, with Laval. I think anyone closely watching Mailloux's tapes will see what I do: a defenceman who lacks the acceleration to consistently avoid a strong forecheck. And opposing teams will dump the puck into Mailloux's corner and he will be exploited. In his short call up early in the year, in game against the islanders, Mailloux was paired with Hutson and the two were mercilessly hounded by a strong forecheck and the puck was pinned in Montreal's zone for over a minute. It was hard to watch.

I would counsel anyone who questions my concerns to watch Mailloux in the upcoming series against Rochester and count the number of times he is able to transport the puck safely from deep in his zone through two or more zones. If he does it more than once or twice in the series, I will be surprised. Why? Because he doesn't have that skating facility. And this is against AHL level competition. He will flounder against NHL competition.

I also disagree with those who question Mailloux's hockey I.Q. He may not have a strong defensive orientation, but his vision and play making ability is certainly enough to be effective at the NHL level. In fact, as I have repeatedly wrote, Mailloux has the best first / stretch pass on the team since Subban at his prime. There is only two ways in this writer's opinion by which Mailloux can succeed in the NHL: he must be paired with a highly mobile defensive partner and Mailloux must simplify his game as he did in game 4 against Cleveland where he moved the puck quickly or, as I have previously opined, be converted into a forward where he can employ his excellent offensive skills and be in a position to receive the puck while he is already in motion. If you need confirmation of the latter proposition, just re-watch Mailloux's level of play in this year's AHL All-Star game, where Mailloux was skating freely in a 3 on 3 environment where he received the puck in motion and was easily one of the best players on the ice.

Just my thoughts.
 
I’m guessing at best he gives us fits like Matheson. I hope he can cut out the brain cramps

At this point I think it's a baked-in flaw with this player and that we'll need to live through the mistakes if he ever makes it to the pros.

Which I don't expect to happen given the severe lack of progress on Mailloux's side this season. I actually think Mailloux regressed defensively this year.

Last year, at least the effort was more consistent defensively on his part. But now he just keeps making the same dumb mistakes, playing angry, and struggling big time against the forecheck.

I thought Mailloux would have learned how to take a check and make a simple play on the boards while sustaining pressure, keeping things simple and clean in his zone by now.

But no, Mailloux handles the cycle and forechecking pressure like I handle the Bruins beating us in a playoff game; badly, if you hadn't already guessed.

"Get yourself drunk out of aggravation and then somehow, someway get defeated by your own impotent rage" type of bad.

So yeah, if Reinbacher ends up becoming a top-4D for us and we manage to acquire another long-term D (with Hutson, Guhle, and Reinbacher) this offseason, it'll be very, very hard for Mailloux to make this Canadiens team at all.

Mailloux has a very offensive-oriented skillset, one that might not work at all when put on a third D pairing expected to regularly PK while also not getting great offensive opportunities nor PP time.

A guy like Xhekaj is a much better fit for third-pairing D than Mailloux, same for Struble, same for Engstrom too given his much better defensive awareness.

Mailloux I think ends up being a Justin Barron for us; a guy that has a lot of tools but fails to put them together for us before we trade him.

We've just arrived at the point of our rebuild when we can't just be patient and hope a young player's problems magically fix themselves. All of which to say that Mailloux may be the first casualty on D of that shift in focus.
 
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