Surprising turn of events for Logan Mailloux and the Montreal Canadiens

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Julien Trekker
July 20, 2024 (12:54)

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The Montreal Canadiens could turn their back on one of their top prospects at the start of next season because of their loaded defesemen pool.

Back in 2021, major changes happened in the Montreal Canadiens organization. Following a run to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the two team leaders Carey Price and Shea Weber retired, general manager Marc Bergevin was replaced with Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton, while Martin St-Louis came in to replace Dominique Ducharme.

After a few years of rebuilding, the Habs are finally close to becoming a great team in the NHL once again.

At the next training camp, a former first round pick could even lose his spot because of the contract situation of other young defensemen in the organization.

Tony Marinaro and Grant McCagg talked about this issue in a recent episode of The Sick Podcast.

They said that Logan Mailloux, the Habs' controversial 31st overall pick in 2021, could start the season in the AHL, despite being ready to play in the NHL. According to the two insiders, the Habs could have no choice but to send him in Laval to avoid losing a player on waivers: Justin Barron.

Here's what they said:

"But let's say Logan Mailloux, if you were to bet today, here we are, mid-July, Logan Mailloux started in Laval yesterday. Do you think he's had enough seasoning in Laval to start with the Canadiens and then be on his way, or do you think a little bit more time in Laval would actually do him good?

Well, I think I mean, I've thought, before Jonathan Kovacevic got moved, that he's probably going to start the season in Laval because Barron will be eligible for waivers and he won't. Right. Yeah.

It probably comes down to not wanting to lose an asset in the Lehkonen trade for nothing, who could still be a decent NHL defenseman, perhaps.

So, do they start the year with Mailloux and Barron as a sixth or seventh? That's possible, but I think Barron would probably spend most of the time in the press box because you don't want that, especially with Mailloux, because I think he's one of the higher-ranked prospects in the organization. Yeah, he's got to play. So if they don't want Barron as the seventh guy and they want to give him a regular role to start the year, then Mailloux, I would think, likely heads to Laval for more seasoning, which wouldn't be a bad thing."

Check out the full video here:

More to come.