The St. Louis Blues acquired defenseman Logan Mailloux (24) from the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday for forward Zack Bolduc. (David Kirouac-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/c93a8d4f-904a-4f74-8f98-0b078f828c3d.jpeg] The St. Louis Blues acquired defenseman Logan Mailloux (24) from the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday for forward Zack Bolduc. (David Kirouac-Imagn Images) MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- The St. Louis Blues [http://thn.com/stlouis] have acquired a young defenseman they hope will be a mainstay for them for years to come, but it came at a price. The Blues are acquiring Logan Mailloux from the Montreal Canadiens [http://thn.com/montreal]for forward Zack Bolduc. The 22-year-old Mailloux was the 31st pick in the 2021 NHL Draft and has played in just eight games in the NHL, including seven last season when he had two goals and two assists. He's 6-foot-3, 213 pounds and is a right-handed d-man, which is something the team has coveted of late. "He's an excellent skater, got an excellent shot," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. "... We think he's NHL-ready now. I talked to him, I told him he'll have the opportunity to ... he has a job now. It's his job to come into camp and keep it." But it came at a cost, as the 22-year-old Bolduc, the 17th pick in 2021, broke out last season, with 36 points (19 goals, 17 assists) in 72 games, but all 19 of his goals were scored after the Blues hired Jim Montgomery, who seemed to untap Bolduc's potential. Zack Bolduc (76) was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for defenseman Logan Mailloux on Tuesday after scoring 19 goals in 72 games last season for the St. Louis Blues. (James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/c8be7bb0-c1d4-4178-9994-3142ead7f9e2.jpeg] Zack Bolduc (76) was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for defenseman Logan Mailloux on Tuesday after scoring 19 goals in 72 games last season for the St. Louis Blues. (James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images) However, the Blues felt like there was a surplus of wingers, and that Bolduc may not have been able to advance up in the lineup. "With a trade like this, it's an old-fashioned hockey trade," Armstrong said. "It was very difficult to include Bolduc in any deal, including this one. When I look at our depth on the wing right now, if you go [Jimmy] Snuggerud and [Jordan] Kyrou, then you go on the other side with [Pavel] Buchnevich and [Dylan] Holloway, it seemed like an area of strength of ours. And then you look at our depth on the right side of the defense, our top four players are into their 30s. We used a No. 1 pick last year to get [Adam] Jiricek, but adding Mailloux fills a void for us today and tomorrow." After Mailloux was drafted, he was immediately suspended indefinitely by the Ontario Hockey League after an incident while on loan to SK Lejon in Sweden in November 2020; he was fined by Swedish authorities after admitting to two charges related to sharing, without a woman's consent, a photo during sex. It was reported that the 21-year-old at the time, said he "deeply regrets" taking and then sharing that photo with his teammates in order "to impress them." Mailloux underwent therapy and counseling and participated in a personal development plan, and the league announced in a statement then that, "we have met with Logan Mailloux multiple times over the course of the last eight to 10 months. We are comfortable that he recognizes the gravity of his prior conduct and is committed to making better and more responsible decisions in the future." "To be honest with you, I think it’s something that it’s not just in the rear view for me," Mailloux said. "I think it’s something that I’ve carried with me every day. It’s something that I want to be able to make a positive impact. I think when I dealt with all of that, in the past few years, I’ve felt I’ve grown a lot, as a person, off the ice. I’ve been around the community in Montreal and like I said, I look forward to getting to St. Louis and being able to make a positive impact around the community there. Just turning my whole situation, which was a negative situation, being able to turn that into a positive is something I’ve really tried to do." The Blues were aware of the player in 2021 but understood the player requested he not get drafted. "His draft year, he was dealing with things off the ice," Armstrong said. "There was a request by the player not to be drafted, so we didn't take him with our pick and Montreal did. It's a difficult situation. He's a young man and he made a mistake. Obviously we've done our research on that. We've followed his career since then. The league has obviously done their due diligence and allowed him into the league. We understand what he did. We also understand everyone makes mistakes and he's paid for it, and he'll continue to pay for it and we'll continue to work with him. But it's not something that we weren't aware of. Personally, it's a second opportunity that I think that the Canadiens gave him and us trading for him shows that there is the ability to change the narrative." While playing for the Laval Rocket of the American Hockey League last season and led the Rocket defense with 33 points (12 goals, 21 assists) in 63 regular-season games. “I think it was my play on both sides of the puck this year," Mailloux said. "I think that’s one of the areas that I made a step compared to my first year. I think I was playing more of a complete game, being physical and trying to provide some offense when I can. Just being able to be out there and be a reliable player.”
