The Montreal Canadiens made a head scratching decision at the 2021 NHL Draft.
In a bit of a foreshadowing moment for the team’s upcoming awful offseason, the Canadiens selected Logan Mailloux with the 31st overall selection in the draft.
Mailloux had made a lot of headlines in the weeks leading up to the NHL Draft, as he was charged with invasion of privacy and defamation in Sweden last year for taking pictures, without consent, of a female during a sex act. He asked teams not to draft him at all in 2021 as he wanted to show his off ice conduct could be much better than it had been in the past.
However, the Canadiens chose to use their first round pick on him. Though it was a late first rounder, it’s not like Mailloux was a top ten worthy pick who fell to a spot where the Canadiens couldn’t pass up on his availability. They just selected him where he was ranked and didn’t take into anything but his on ice performance.
On the ice, Mailloux is a big, right shot, offensive defenceman who was ranked throughout the second round by most draft pundits in the lead up to the annual event.
The selection was immediately criticized by just about everyone in and around the game of hockey. The player admitted wrongdoing in the past and was charged and fined for the incident in question in Sweden. He asked the NHL teams to give him a year to show that he can be better on and off the ice.
Instead, the Canadiens took him in the first round and appeared shocked that anyone would question their choice.
The fact is, even if he were a saint off the ice, Mailloux was barely worth a first round selection. He played last season in a tier-3 pro league in Sweden and scored 15 points in 19 games. I guess that’s good but there is really no one to compare him to because players are almost never drafted out of HockeyEttan in Sweden.
The year previous, Mailloux did not make the London Knights as a 16 year old and played Junior A hockey in Ontario. He was great, scoring 68 points in 48 games but where is his defensive game after playing a season of Junior A and then Swedish third tier of pro?
Who knows. He has also been suspended indefinitely by the OHL and is eligible to apply to be reinstated on January 1st. His development on the ice has been unique to say the least.
The Canadiens could have avoided this whole situation if they drafted anyone else. These three players in particular were available, ranked higher than Mailloux by most, and are making the Canadiens pick look even worse with their great play this season.