When Laval plays their home opener Friday against Syracuse, they won’t have their top defenceman available. That’s because the Canadiens announced that they have recalled Logan Mailloux.
Mailloux was one of the final cuts by the Habs in training camp after giving him a long look. He was one of only two blueliners to play in five of six preseason games (the other being Arber Xhekaj) but he didn’t produce much offensively, notching just one assist. That said, Montreal’s coaching staff was almost certainly asking him to focus on his defensive zone play. He wound up being slotted fifth in our annual prospect rankings heading into the season.
The 21-year-old had a solid first professional season in 2023-24 with the Rocket, collecting 14 goals and 33 assists along with 91 penalty minutes in 72 games. That was good for a tie for seventh league-wide in points by a rookie (including forwards) while finishing third in scoring among all defencemen. Mailloux earned a late-season recall for his efforts, making his NHL debut in last year’s final game where he earned an assist. This season, he has two goals and two assists through Laval’s first two appearances.
Mailloux’s recall comes on the heels of Mike Matheson suffering an upper-body injury late in the first period of Thursday’s loss against Los Angeles. Additionally, Kaiden Guhle is listed as day-to-day after taking a hard hit early in the second period although he did stay in the game. Both players missed practice today.
With the Habs heading on the road for Saturday’s contest against the Islanders, Mailloux will at least serve as some injury insurance given the uncertainty with Matheson and Guhle. Even if they’re healthy, he could be in line for his first NHL game of the season given the early struggles from some of Montreal’s blueliners. The Canadiens had an open roster spot following Alex Barre-Boulet’s demotion earlier in the week so no corresponding move needs to be made on that front.