Montreal Canadiens Recall Logan Mailloux
The Montreal Canadiens have recalled defensive prospect Logan Mailloux from the Laval Rocket of the AHL. The 21-year-old is playing in his first professional season in the AHL and has posted 14 goals and 33 assists in 70 games this year for the Canadiens AHL affiliate.
Mailloux was selected late in the first round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft but had renounced himself from the draft after being charged and fined in Sweden for taking an intimate photo of a woman and distributing it without her consent. Mailloux was on loan to Sweden’s SK Lejon at the time because the COVID-19 pandemic had led to the Ontario Hockey League suspending their season. Mailloux was eventually suspended by the OHL in September 2021 but was reinstated early in 2022.
He went on to play parts of two seasons with the London Knights, posting 25 goals and 28 assists in 59 games during his final OHL season with the team. Despite multiple NHL teams placing Mailloux on their do not draft lists, the Canadiens elected to select him with a late first-round pick, a move that was met with heavy criticism.
It remains to be seen if Mailloux will play tonight for the Canadiens against the Detroit Red Wings in what will be the final game of Montreal’s season. If he does, he will make his NHL debut less than eight months after having his eligibility to play restored by the NHL. Arpon Basu of The Athletic tweeted a statement from the league with the NHL saying that they’ve met with Mailloux multiple times over the last year and he is cleared to play in the NHL.
Logan Mailloux Cleared To Play For Canadiens
Renaud Lavoie of The NHL Network is reporting that Montreal Canadiens defensive prospect Logan Mailloux has been cleared by the NHL to play for the team next season. Lavoie tweeted, “Logan Mailloux has received a green light to play in the NHL when he earns a job with the Montreal Canadiens, putting an end to the speculation.”
The native of Belle River, Ontario, just wrapped up his final season of OHL eligibility with the London Knights, a season in which he posted 25 goals and 28 assists in 59 games.
The 20-year-old Mailloux was charged in Sweden with defamation and offensive photography after he shared an explicit picture of a woman with his teammates in Sweden without her consent. Mailloux was 17 years old at the time, and amid the controversy, he was selected by the Canadiens in the entry draft that followed after he had asked teams not to draft him. The NHL elected to review the situation before agreeing to allow Mailloux to play in the league.
Mailloux met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman this past summer in what was presumably a meeting to discuss his being cleared by the league as he looked to turn pro for the first time after signing his NHL entry-level contract last year. He would have required clearance to play in the AHL or the NHL if he wanted to play professional hockey in North America.
Mailloux and the Montreal Canadiens have taken steps to try and make amends. Mailloux has participated in multiple educational events led by the community manager for the Montreal Canadiens Foundation, Geneviève Paquette. The Canadiens franchise has also put $1MM into a ‘Respect and Consent Action Plan‘.
With Mailloux now reportedly cleared to play, he will need to play catchup as he has missed significant time due to his suspensions as well as multiple injuries that he has dealt with. He is unlikely to land a job with the Canadiens as they have a good stockpile of skilled, young defensemen who will also be looking to crack the lineup. Given that, he will likely start the season with the Laval Rocket, which would be a good fit for him to better understand what it takes to become a professional before being thrust under the bright lights in Montreal.
Minor Transactions: 10/13/22
The NHL season is fully underway, and quite a few teams are skating in their first games of the season tonight. As exciting as the action is around the NHL tonight, there’s still plenty going on around the hockey world and we’ll keep track of all those transactions here.
- The Montreal Canadiens were expected to assign 2021 first-round pick, Logan Mailloux, to his OHL club, the London Knights, when he recovered from injury. Today, the team did just that, sending Mailloux to the Knights. Mailloux hasn’t spent an extensive amount of time on the ice in the OHL, so this season will be important as he looks to establish himself as one of the Canadiens’ better options on what looks at the moment to be a crowded defensive pipeline.
- The New York Rangers’ AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, have signed defenseman Ben Harpur to a PTO, per a team announcement. Harpur, 27, is a veteran of over 150 NHL games and joins the Wolf Pack after signing a PTO with the Columbus Blue Jackets, a deal that did not result in a contract offer. The Rangers recently lost physical depth defenseman Jarred Tinordi on waivers to the Chicago Blackhawks, so perhaps this PTO is a chance for Harpur to prove he can fill Tinordi’s vacated role on the Rangers’ organizational depth chart.
Snapshots: Sprong, Dickinson, Mailloux
After converting his PTO into another NHL contract, Seattle Kraken winger Daniel Sprong isn’t able to be a full participant with the team just yet. According to The Seattle Times’ Kate Shefte, Sprong is dealing with work visa complications and is expected to rejoin the team within the next few days.
This does put Sprong’s availability for Seattle’s season opener on Wednesday in Anaheim in doubt. While Sprong was productive in terms of goals after joining the Kraken at the trade deadline last season, their added depth on the wing puts him squarely in a fourth-line role with everyone healthy. In his stead, Karson Kuhlman is expected to dress against Anaheim if Sprong can’t play.
- Similarly, new Chicago Blackhawks forward Jason Dickinson is also battling visa issues after arriving from Vancouver. The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus reports that Dickinson will miss the team’s first two games of the season at the least, potentially missing three. Dickinson’s absence and his ability to be designated as a non-roster player in the meantime allowed them to claim defenseman Jarred Tinordi off waivers today without making a corresponding roster move.
- While Montreal Canadiens defense prospect Logan Mailloux will start the season on injured reserve, he won’t stay there for long. Sportsnet’s Eric Engels notes to expect Montreal to send him back to the OHL’s London Knights after he returns to practice. Mailloux is expected to play a full season in London after injuries and a lengthy suspension due to his sexual misconduct charge during his draft year in Sweden limited him to 12 games.
Montreal Canadiens Sign Logan Mailloux
The Montreal Canadiens have signed prospect Logan Mailloux to a three-year, entry-level contract, inking the 2021 first-round pick a few days ahead of the start of the NHL season.
Mailloux, 19, asked not to be drafted at all a year ago, after being charged with taking and distributing an offensive photo without consent while playing in Sweden. At the time, he wrote that it was “best that I renounce myself from the 2021 NHL draft and ask that no one select me.” The Canadiens did not feel the same, and selected the young defenseman with the 32nd overall pick. The OHL then suspended Mailloux for several months, reinstating him in the New Year. He played 12 games for the London Knights, registering nine points.
In today’s press release, new general manager Kent Hughes, who was not part of the staff that selected Mailloux, released a statement:
This is a decision that we have thought through carefully. Having Logan around members of our team and hockey operations staff for a good part of the summer allowed us to gain a greater appreciation of Logan Mailloux the person. He has an opportunity to affect positive change and we will work to support him in any effort towards that goal. Logan recognizes the impact of his gesture and of course, the process continues.
When the OHL decided to reinstate him, the league explained that Mailloux had gone through a “personal development plan” that included therapy, counseling, and certification in programs like Respect in Sport, Mental Health in Sport, and Cultural Awareness. The Canadiens, apparently comfortable with his progress, have now brought him into the organization on a full-time basis under this contract. He will likely be re-assigned to the Knights to start the year, and his contract will slide forward.
For the rest of his career, Mailloux will likely be a hot-button player in hockey circles. The hope at this point must be that he has learned from his actions and can move forward to “affect positive change” as Hughes puts it. His contract will pay $750K in the first year and $832.5K in the following two, along with a $92K signing bonus in each.
OHL To Reinstate Logan Mailloux
The OHL has announced that Logan Mailloux, a member of the London Knights and first-round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens, will be reinstated from his indefinite suspension effective January 1, 2022. In the press release, they explained the decision:
Since the time of suspension, with the support of the London Knights, Logan Mailloux has participated in therapy and counselling with Dr. Lindsey Forbes, and a personal development plan under the leadership of Wendy Glover. Ms. Glover is a London-based, experienced holistic athlete development practitioner, academic and personal development advisor, teacher and member of the Ontario School Counsellors Association.
The player’s Personal Development Plan has included weekly meetings, ongoing completion of certifications, and reflections of concepts explored. Some of the certifications and programs available to athletes that he completed were Respect in Sport, Mental Health in Sport, Sport Media, Ethics in Sport, Diversity and Inclusion, Sport Psychology, and Cultural Awareness.
After reviewing the program, speaking with the player and Ms. Glover, and receiving a commitment from the player to continue with his personal development program, the League is satisfied that Logan Mailloux has undertaken the necessary steps and will reinstate him, effective January 1, 2022.
Mailloux was suspended in September after news spread of an incident that took place in Sweden where he was playing during the 2020-21 season. Mailloux was charged with taking and distributing an offensive photo without consent, of which he was convicted in December 2020. Now 18, he tried to renounce himself from the NHL draft, asking teams not to draft him and saying at the time:
…I renounce myself from the 2021 NHL Draft and ask that no one select me this upcoming weekend. I feel that this would allow me the opportunity to demonstrate an adequate level of maturity and character next season with the London Knights in the OHL and provide all the NHL teams the opportunity to reassess my character towards the 2022 NHL Draft.
The Canadiens selected him 31st overall and explained that they would make a “commitment to accompany Logan on his journey,” providing him with support to guide him in his development. The OHL then suspended him for violating the league’s “expectation of appropriate conduct.”