Logan Mailloux's growth demonstrated by Captain honor at Canadiens Rookie Camp

The Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs facing off in two rookie camp games offers quite a contrast. The Canadiens are decked out in full red, white, and blue uniforms, with name bars and letters to designate captains. Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs are wearing their practice uniforms. The contrast offers a look at the mindset of both organizations, as the Canadiens are happy to allow their prospects to wear the historic uniform, while the Leafs are making them "earn" the opportunity by making the team out of camp.

The Canadiens named a captain and two assistants for the weekend series. Owen Beck and Sean Farrell were honored by wearing an "A" on their jersey, while Logan Mailloux was given the nod as captain. The move to make Mailloux the captain makes sense, given his play on the ice. He was one of Laval's best players last season and represented them at the All-Star Game. However, Mailloux's story is well known, and there have been character concerns.

The Canadiens went against Mailloux's wishes and drafted him. Mailloux wanted to wait a year before joining the NHL, giving himself a chance to recover from the legal issues when he played in Europe during the pandemic. His European issues aren't something to take lightly, but his personal growth since that day is a good comeback story.

Mailloux is a favorite amongst his teammates in Laval, and his maturity could be why he finds a spot on the Canadiens this season. If Montreal does trade David Savard this season, Mailloux is likely the next man up to take his position on the right side of the defense.

Mailloux felt like a wasted pick when the Canadiens took him in the draft. There were no guarantees that he would even get cleared by the NHL to play in the league. Four years later, the Canadiens chose Mailloux to lead the rest of the prospects in two games against their most hated rivals.