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Canadiens Sign Logan Mailloux to a 3-Year Entry-Level Contract

October 5, 2022, 4:42 PM ET [516 Comments]
Karine Hains
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey

By now, everyone has heard about the Logan Mailloux story, back in 2021, the Canadiens used their first-round pick, 31st overall, on the young defenseman who had asked not to be drafted because he didn’t deserve the honour or privilege of being an NHL draft pick. He had made the decision after news came out that he had been charged and fined $1,650 for defamation and offensive photography in Sweden after photographing a young lady who was engaged in a sexual act with him and circulating the picture to his teammates without her consent.

Unsurprisingly, the pick wasn’t very well received in Montreal or league wide, and it prompted Geoff Molson to apologize for the selection and say that the team would monitor Mailloux’s readiness to be part of the organization. When Molson dismissed Marc Bergevin and there was a change or regime, people wondered if the new brass would choose to distance themselves from the pick and Kent Hughes addressed the question. Months ago, he said that the Canadiens needed to evaluate Logan Mailloux as a human being before deciding if they wanted to sign the prospect.

Fast forward to this Summer, Mailloux spent the whole offseason in Montreal, around the organization and it looks like he passed their evaluation since the team announced its signature to a 3-year entry-level contract (2022-23 to 2024-2025). The terms of the contract are as follows, the defenseman will earn $750,000 at the NHL level in the first season and $832,500 in the following 2 seasons. It comes with a $92,500 signing bonus and if he played in the AHL he would be paid $70,000 per season.

If you recall, I was disappointed by the pick when it happened in 2021, I would have liked the Canadiens to respect Mailloux’s wish not to be drafted, but they didn’t. I thought the new regime would take more time to assess whether they wanted to keep the prospect in the fold, after all, they owned his rights until next June, but the decision has been made. He attended his first rookie camp with the team this Summer and because of a lingering injury he hasn’t played a single game.

Still, Mailloux, a right-handed defenseman who’s 6’3’’ and weights 212 pounds fits the bill to fill a big organizational need since right-handed d-men are a rare breed both on the team’s roster and in its prospect’s cupboard. Hockey is first and foremost a business and I guess Mailloux was too good of an asset for management to pass on him. After all, most of the backlash concerned the organization not respecting Mailloux’s wish not to be picked and this new administration can say that there weren’t the ones who made the pick.

Last season, Mailloux put up 9 points in 12 games with the London Knights and served 13 penalty minutes before he suffered a shoulder injury last March and he hasn’t played a game since. Clearly, the kid is talented, and I hope he has learnt, not only from the consequences of his actions, but also from the therapy sessions he has attended since. Hopefully, his will be a cautionary tale young players will remember, and all learn from. Sadly, there is a real problem in hockey culture as has been highlighted by the Hockey Canada scandals, a federation just shouldn’t have a secret fund dedicated to secret payment to sexual assault victims, it should be using that money to educate and ensure that its players do not commit such offenses rather than saying “boys will be boys” and being ready to bail them out.

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