Scouting report: Logan Mailloux
As promised, here is my scouting profile of Logan Mailloux following his first 6 games of the season with the London Knights. I had only seen Mailloux one game last year so it was important for me to get a head on the Habs first round pick of last year’s draft. From the outset, I must advise listeners that 6 games, spread over a period of 2 weeks, represents a very small sampling in the scouting field. You see, some flaws take a certain amount of time to fix and changes won’t happen after a few games, which can make us take a stance too critical towards a player.
Written by: Simon St-Laurent (TSLH Espoirs)
French version:
Sometimes it will be the other way around; we will deal with certain deficiencies believing that they can easily be rectified, which does not always happen. It also happens that we only notice negative tendencies after a good number of viewings. My assessments of the player are therefore not definitive. To better illustrate this point, after my first 3 viewings I was more impressed by Logan Mailloux’s defensive play than his offensive play, an analysis on which I am no longer so sure to advance.
Very rare are 18-year-old players who present a game that is already fully polished. Even more truthful when it comes to a 6’3 defenseman who has played just 25 games in the last 22 months and 19 of those have been played on a European size rink in a league without any structure. This fact remains unconditional to our analysis and we should not jump to conclusions too quickly.
Overall, the aspects that I liked less about Mailloux can be worked on with the help of the appropriate staff. He offers undeniable qualities but within which I see certain limits.
What is most apparent is the toolbox he has at his disposal ?
Of the lot, if he would have anything to offer that his peers of the same age can’t match is undoubtedly his shot. When the time comes to evaluate the game of prospects, superlatives are very easily lost and several words heavy with implications are launched cheerfully. But Mailloux’s shot is truly among the elite of the elite in the most recent drafts. His one-timer is resounding and alone can immobilize the opposing defense. Inside each quality, you have to look at whether the prospect is able to offer some diversity so he doesn’t become easy to read for his opponents and Mailloux offers a good variety of shot. His wrist shot deserves just as much praise. The velocity he generates is remarkable and his execution is unique to him. He only needs as long as it takes him to put all his weight on his right leg, without the need to gain momentum. Moreover, Mailloux does not have to continue the motion of his shot after the puck has left his stick, limiting the information that the goalkeeper can take. He also does not hesitate to step forward and take advantage of the free space given to him. The only criticism that can be made of him is that the precision is not always there, often hitting the goalkeeper in the chest. That said, it’s a very minor gripe and the pros easily outweigh the cons. His shot has the power to get through goaltenders and if he keeps his shots lower, rebounds will create scoring-chances and any of his shot won’t be considered a poor play selection.
The other aspect that makes Mailloux an enticing project to develop is the physical and athletic qualities he offers. 6’3 right-handed defenders advocating a physical game are becoming an increasingly rare commodity. If you look at last year’s draft, there were 11 defenders over 6’1 selected in the first 40 picks. Among those, there are only 2 who are fond of the physical play: Mailloux and Nolan Allan.
All in all, Mailloux has not yet reached full physical maturity. Despite his body measurements, he still doesn’t dominate physically on a consistent basis. I’ve seen him give some good hits but, having started his season considerably behind his peers, his focus is on different facets. I haven’t seen the hard to play against and mean player yet but under the circumstances I’m going to refer to the low sample-size I mentioned earlier as it seems unanimous, according to people I trust, that it’s part of his DNA.
Interesting mobility
On top of this, Mailloux offers good mobility on the ice for such a size. His speed is good and suggests further progress to come. This makes his puck carrying game effective, especially since he has the necessary puck handling to outmaneuver opposing players and work against two of them in a relatively small space. Coupled with his size, his opponents have no choice but to back down. He also relies on these assets during zone exits where we see him grab the puck behind his net and skillfully use his free arm to neutralize his pursuer’s stick. I’m not yet convinced if he can be just as effective in these areas in the NHL, but the foundations to work with are there.
He would benefit from being a little more explosive on the ice (this may come with physical maturation) which would help him in his puck recovery game. It is also within this aspect of the game specific to defensemen that I observe what requires the most work in his skating, which is: his agility. Especially his pivots.
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It seems minor but it would make him oh so much more effective in puck recovery. In the event that the pressure is imminent, he can always get out of trouble by protecting the puck with his body or with his stickhandling, but if he has to turn quickly on himself, he finds himself a little exposed.
These are situations that are also repeated in his own zone, where, due to a certain lack of fluidity in his rear pivots, he can be caught on the wrong foot, despite his long reach.
In light of what is said, Mailloux may seem like the kind of player who relies mainly on his physical attributes (which is not false) but we must also give credit to his brain. Offensively, he demonstrates good awareness, which boils down to his consciousness of his surroundings, including the position of his teammates and opponents on the ice, as well as the game-situation. He can plan some plays in advance. This can be seen during a sequence where he came to support his forwards deep in the opposing zone (practically in the corner of the ice), the puck is heading towards him and even before it reaches him, he takes care to look over his shoulder and spot a teammate in the slot. He wastes no time and sweeps the puck with his backhand in his direction, without even taking the time to settles it.
Powerplay specialist ?
Which brings me to tell you about his play on the power play. Since the threat posed by his shot has already been covered extensively, we’ll just focus on his puck distribution game.
One of the most important qualities that a player can present offensively is ‘Deceptiveness’. Which translates into the qualities to deceive/mislead/manipulate one’s opponents. Mailloux offers snippets of this aspect. The option he will favor to demonstrate this quality is when he takes a few strides forward and fake a wrist shot by putting all his weight on his right leg to immobilize the opposing defense before threading a cross-ice pass to a teammate. I actually saw him execute this play from both sides. That being said, he is much more effective when he does it coming from the right side. When he does it from the left, he is betrayed by the position of certain body segments (head, shoulders and wrists) which line up with the trajectory of the pass rather than facing the net. He could benefit from being more ‘Deceptive’ in his approach. Apart from that, Mailloux is relatively ‘meat and potatoes’ (simplistic) in distribution of the puck on the powerplay. He is not a defenseman who will use lateral movements as well as head and shoulder fakes to make the opposing team’s defensive coverage move. Personally, I project him more as a 2nd powerplay unit guy.
Still in the vein of special teams, I really liked Mailloux’s play on the penalty kill. He stays close to his goaltender and actively seeks to cut the passing lanes by kneeling down and fully-extending his stick on the ice. It does him a favor on a number of occasions and he is really good at cutting passing lanes but there are a few times where he ‘swims’ in front of his own net, lying full length. He also does it during 2 on 1. This is something that Evan Bouchard also did in his draft year with these same London Knights. Coincidence or it I something asked from the coaching staff? Who knows?
Defensively at 5 against 5, there is good and less good. I like his way of defending the zone-entries where he is assertive and stays on his blue line rather than going down with the forwards and conceding him the zone. His backwards-skating seems up to par and helped by his long reach, he manages to keep a good ‘Gap-Control’ (distance he keeps) with the opposing forwards.
He defends well attacks that are linear but if his opponent wins the zone in diagonal movement, Mailloux has difficulty approaching him from the right angle and will concede the center-ice. This goes beyond zone entries as the same can be seen behind his net where he can get tricked and fail to pin the forward along the boards.
His game in breakout, other than through his puck-carrying abilities, is bothering me a little at the moment, I find that his first-pass occasionally lacks conviction and precision.
As a conclusion, I would say that in light of my viewings I would portray Mailloux more as a 2nd pair defender rather than a top 2 defender. That being said, the bases to work with are attractive and I will never be able to mention it enough times but 6 games over a 2-week period is a very small sample for any serious scouting work.
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It is intriguing to wonder where I would rank Mailloux in my 2022 ranking. He is, of course, a year older than these players, but since they are the ones on whom I focus almost all of my viewings, parallels are drawn more easily that way. There is still half a season to note the progress or stagnation of certain players. This is an answer that I could only provide at the end of the season, and again, I don’t plan to watch any other Mailloux games, so I have to give an interval as big as between the 7th and the 19th rank.
As for his truthful draft, the 2021 draft, I was very vocal all last season that I hated that draft. The quality presented at the top wasn’t too bad but the players I wouldn’t have been ready to take to their actual draft rank (or where I had them in my ranking) surfaced very quickly. The biggest problem was that the players I liked all had their question marks so this resulted in a list that I wouldn’t have followed based on the picks, as well as the prospect-pool, at my disposal.
The player I made my biggest statement on was Scott Morrow, who I had 14th overall (drafted 40th by the Carolina Hurricanes). The latter is having an exceptional season in the NCAA and has an almost elite offensive game. He could become something special. He was my choice for the Habs and remains so to this day, despite the fact that he can be quite soft at times.
Which brings me to discussing some things that have been on my mind lately that I have been trying to express. I find that people give themselves way too much freedom to criticize NHL scouts. The NHL teams have teams full of scouts, who travel the world to observe the various prospects, who interview the players themselves as well as their teammates, their coaches and former coaches, meet their families, submit them to psychological evaluations, analyze a battery of physical and physiological tests, and so on. We see these same people later, give their opinion on different prospects with the help of a summary of highlights. It is a phenomenon that I will never understand and that I will never hide to criticize. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with admitting that we haven’t seen a player play or that our viewings are too limited to matter. Sadly, few people approach this way of thinking.
None of us deal with the reality of NHL teams as well. For us, an error in evaluation and choice does not change much in our daily lives, but for them, it represents their job. It is therefore much easier for amateurs to take risks.
What bothers me the most, however, is that many people do not assume their choice.
I dug up every article, every Twitter thread and every person who made their pick at the time of the selection and it was the same 5 names that kept coming up: Sasha Pastujov, Nikita Chibrikov, Aatu Raty, Francesco Pinelli and Logan Stankoven.
As far as I’m concerned, I take Logan Mailloux in front of all these players (out of the lot, only Pinelli was inside my top-32). That being said, the biggest problem I have is that I have seen a significant number of people change their minds 6 months later and say that ultimately their pick was another player.
I’ve seen people talk about Scott Morrow recently when he wasn’t even ranked inside their top 32 and had never been mentioned before by those same people.
Every year we also see people offering an endless list of players they would like for a given selection. Of course, one or two of the lot will pan out and these people can say they would have made a good selection for an NHL team, while the other players mentioned will become non-factors or never make it in the NHL. Teams have to set their sights on one player and face the consequences, why would it be any different for us?
Well, with that, enough complaints.
As we get closer to the draft, I’ll start posting some profiles of players eligible for this draft on TSLH and so you don’t miss a thing, you can follow me at @19Simon19 on Twitter.
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