There are a few Montreal Canadiens prospects in the system that will be very interesting to see in next season’s rookie camp, or training camp for that matter. Kaiden Guhle, Joshua Roy, Riley Kidney and perhaps even Jordan Harris will all be names to look at when the hockey calendar year turns over. One name we might not see is Logan Mailloux.
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Mailloux is having a strong season with the London Knights of the OHL. Despite only playing a dozen games due to suspension and injuries, when on the ice Mailloux has been a pillar at the blue line as well as a natural offensive general, generating 3 goals, 6 assists for 9 points this season. Mailloux also bulked up in the offseason now tilting the scale at just under 210 lbs to go on his 6’3″ frame.
Debates about his off-ice incidents aside, Mailloux is proving to be a valuable asset to the Knights and can be one to the Canadiens as well. However, this once again might not happen just yet.
Mailloux missed out on the 2021 rookie camp because of his pending suspension with the OHL. Unfortunately, this might be the case again as he has sustained a severe shoulder injury in a fight against Pasquale Zito, a Detroit Red Wings 6th round pick prospect, of the Windsor Spitfires, on March 6th.
#RedWings prospect Pasquale Zito rains fists down on #Habs 2021 draft pick Logan Mailloux #LGRW pic.twitter.com/7jI7Uqii1B
— Nolan Bianchi (@nolanbianchi) March 7, 2022
Zito is gaining a reputation as someone who’s not afraid to drop the gloves and tries to pump up his team and home crowd when needed. In this sequence however, you can see a punch land right where the neck and shoulder joint is and it hurt Mailloux bad, causing the defenceman to fall and sustaining even more damage on it at the same time.
Mailloux hasn’t played a game since, with the team taking a slow approach to see how his shoulder heals. However, time seems to point towards a surgery, which would shelf the prospect from four to six months.
That timeline would essentially scrap any plans he had for this summer. Whether it be rookie camp, world championships, or whatever other opportunities that might have presented itself.
There’s still a chance that Mailloux could take part in the Canadiens’ training camp, however that appears to be unlikely. The course will remain as he will likely be sent down for one more year at the Junior level, given that he has only played 16 games in the OHL thus far.
Members of the London Knights organization claim that Mailloux is NHL ready, however the current Canadiens administration insist on a slow approach with the 2021 1st round pick, which is part of their new and modern player development approach.