The Montreal Canadiens put together a lengthy playoff run in the 2021 postseason, resulting in a late draft pick that offseason.
On the eve of the 2021 NHL Draft there was not much talk about Logan Mailloux. Not because the hulking defenseman didn’t have all the makings of a top prospect but because he himself had declared himself ineligible.
In a statement released on his social media just days ahead of draft night, Mailloux renounced himself from being selected and asked teams not to choose him. He expressed that being drafted to the NHL was a privilege that he did not deserve and he preferred instead to return to his junior team, the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League, to work on his maturity and character. This following an incident in Sweden the previous year where as a 17-year-old he was charged by police with invasion of privacy and defamation.
Mailloux’s draft stock had plummeted after news of the incident came to light during pre-draft interviews, with reports that dozens of teams had removed him from their draft list altogether. His corresponding statement all but took him off everyone’s radar but then much to everybody’s surprise, and in most cases disgust, the Montreal Canadiens stepped to the podium and selected Mailloux anyway with their first round pick at 31st overall.
Two years later, Mailloux is coming off a great final year in junior hockey. In what was his only full season in the OHL, Mailloux amassed 25 goals and 28 assists for 53 points and a plus 15 rating in 59 regular season games. He followed that with an even better post season where he collected 8 goals and 16 assists for 24 points in 21 playoff games in the Knights run to the OHL final. He also earned rave reviews at the Habs development camp in Brossard and has been penciled in by most to be a top 4 defender at the NHL level for years to come. If that came to fruition, it would be a great return for his draft position.
There is a belief out there that Mailloux slipped in the draft. That he fell to the Canadiens and would likely not have been available at the back of the first round had it not been for his off ice issues. That on talent alone he would have gone much earlier. But is there actually truth to that? We looked at some early pre-draft rankings to find that out.
Mailloux was the 23rd ranked North American skater in his draft year by the NHL’s Central Scouting. In the May 2021 edition of his pre-draft rankings, Sam Cosentino of Sportsnet had Mailloux rated 30th overall. By July but prior to the scandal, Cosentino had him outside the 1st round.
Bob Mackenzie of TSN had Mailloux ranked 35th overall in his final draft rankings while his colleague Craig Button had him much lower at #50. Other prognosticators such as Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News also had him in the middle of the second round at #45.
The consensus here is that a wide array of opinions existed at the time regarding Mailloux’s ability to develop into an NHL caliber defenseman. Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff may have summarized it best when he reported that teams around the league had him as high as Top 15 to as low as #72 on their respective lists.
So it seems he did not fall in the draft at all. If anything the Canadiens reached to take him where they did because they believed in the talent of the player. Logan Mailloux may very well end up being a steal for where he was selected, but not for the reasons many people may have thought.
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