Canadiens sign 2021 first-round pick Logan Mailloux to entry-level deal

The Montreal Canadiens have signed defenseman Logan Mailloux to a three-year entry-level contract, the NHL club announced Wednesday.

The deal will earn Mailloux US$750,000 in the first season and $832,500 in the following two campaigns.

Mailloux will earn $70,000 per season if he plays in the American Hockey League.

Mailloux, 19, played 12 games with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League last season, scoring three goals and nine points.

The native of Belle River, Ont., was the 31st overall pick in the 2021 draft.

In September 2021, the OHL suspended Mailloux indefinitely for violating league expectations for proper player conduct.

He previously said he « deeply regrets » taking a photo of himself and a young woman without consent during an « intimate moment » and then sharing the photo with his teammates « for impress » while on loan at Swedish club SK Lejon in November 2020.

Days before the 2021 NHL Draft, Mailloux posted a statement on Twitter asking teams not to pick him, but the Canadiens defied the request and selected the six-foot-three, 213-pound defenseman with the general manager. of the time, Marc Bergevin, defending the movement. to reporters shortly after the selection.

« We will work closely with him, give him the support he needs, » Bergevin said at the time. « I know he felt remorse about the incident, which we really don’t agree with in every sense of the word. »

“Global Plan” for raising awareness

The choice was widely criticized, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saying Canadians « shown a lack of judgment ».

In July 2021, Canadiens owner, president and CEO Geoff Molson pledged action, saying the team would develop a « comprehensive plan to raise awareness and educate young men and women about this serious issue. » In the coming months.

« We will use our platform and resources to turn a decision that has hurt many people into one that brings meaningful and impactful change. »

Several pressure groups have also expressed concern about the message sent by the hockey club in writing Mailloux. There were a number of media columns that also criticized the decision.

Robert Soroka, professor of marketing at Concordia University in Montreal, said in July 2021 that Molson’s open letter is « a classic example of how to respond to a crisis. Obviously, the initial concern was the erosion of the Canadians’ brand.

Last month, Mailloux sat out the team’s rookie camp in Buffalo, NY, as he continued to recover from shoulder surgery. He was restricted to off-ice activities, according to The Gazette, at the Montreal development camp in July.

Mailloux suffered a shoulder injury March 6 in a fight with Windsor Spitfires forward Pasquale Zito.

He did not play in the Knights’ season-opening loss to Owen Sound on September 30.

Mailloux’s return to the roster will be a decision of his surgeon, Knights general manager Mark Hunter told the London Free Press in early September.

« Whether [the surgeon] says he’s ready to go and Logan is back to full strength, so he’ll play, » Hunter said. “We have plenty of time to start. It’s a long season. »