Montreal Canadiens: What Could Have Been - Logan Stankoven

At the time of the 2021 NHL Draft, it was expected the Logan Mailloux was damaged goods and he would be passed on, especially by a club starved for offensive firepower.

Many offensive talents were available for the taking, with Logan Stankoven still on the board. The former Kamloops Blazer, although on the smaller size is an absolute gamer. And his 2023 season has been simply brilliant.

The 5'8" 170 lbs centre/winger has been on a tear to start his professional career. The Kamloops, BC native has accumulated 27 points through his first 20 games. With 14 goals and 13 assists, the undersized winger has had zero issue acclimating the professional game.

Stankoven was selected 17 spots after Mailloux, with the 47 overall selection, and although both players have played solid since being drafted, the Habs needed and still do, a player who can score. Hindsight is 20/20 and we can play the what-if game, but the fact of the matter is that the 2021 draft had some great value beyond the first round. I fully expect that Mailloux will develop into, at minimum a top-six NHL defenseman.

But this starved offence would be at a huge advantage, if they had Stankoven in the mix with their current crop of goal scoring prospects. Montreal does have Filip Mesar, Joshua Roy, Emil Heineman and Jared Davidson who can shoot the puck very well. However, you can never have too many guys that can put the puck in the net.

Good for the Dallas Stars, because they have a damn good hockey player who will most definitely be in their lineup sooner rather than later. Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson are cooking for Dallas and Mavrik Bourque looking good with Stankoven for the Texas Stars. The Stars are aligning and with their strong blueline and great goaltending from Jake Oettinger the Stars are loading up.

Montreal will get there, and when they do Mailloux will be one hell of a player, but sometimes those studs that get picked after the Canadiens made their choice, hurt. Stankoven would give the Habs a slight problem with another smaller player in the top nine, but Cole Caufield is the only pure sniper. Stankoven would have been a nice piece.

Lets just hope that when they both make it to the NHL, that Mailloux has his best games when he faces Stankoven. A goal or two would also help, but keeping the Stars small forward off the scoresheet will do just fine. Montreal will be just fine, and so will Stankoven.