Canadiens Prospect Report: Thorpe Shines, Mailloux On Fire

Tyler Thorpe – Right Wing – 6’4″ 215lb, Vancouver Giants (WHL)

2024 fourth-round pick Tyler Thorpe is off to a great start to the season for the Vancouver Giants. He’s currently producing at a point-per-game pace thanks to his seven goals and eight assists in 15 games. At 19 years old, he’s a little older than most players picked in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, but as we know, development isn’t always linear. With that in mind, we should still take his elevated production with a grain of salt until we have proof he can maintain his pace throughout the entire season.

Thorpe was a Canadiens prospect who stood out at camp due to his entertaining style of play, which borders on reckless abandon. I’m still not entirely convinced he has the type of speed necessary to one day excel in the NHL, but there is certainly something to be said about his interesting release, which he uses to fool goalies with ease while shooting off the rush.

Logan Mailloux – Defenceman – 6’3″, 212 lb, Laval Rocket (AHL)

Much was made of Logan Mailloux’s underlying numbers during his brief NHL audition, and while they were far from impressive, you’d be hard-pressed to suggest he was the only defenceman who struggled with Martin St-Louis’ new system. Besides, no one expected him to be playing in the NHL at this point in his career, so you could argue he’s slightly ahead of the projected curve.

The one thing that was impossible to ignore during his time with the Habs was his penchant for taking as many shots as humanly possible, evidenced by the fact that he had taken more shots per 60 at 5v5 at the time of his demotion than team captain Nick Suzuki.

This is one of the significant reasons why he’s currently one of the most productive players in the AHL, not to mention why he was named the league’s Player Of The Week. Mailloux has scored four goals and five assists in just four games, which also included a distracting promotion to the NHL in the same stretch. Defensive woes can be improved, but his innate offensive instinct is a weapon that cannot be taught.

Oh, and Joshua Roy continues to score at will in the AHL, but you already knew that, didn’t you?

Additional Montreal Canadiens Prospect News And Notes

• Full marks to Owen Protz for defending his teammate after a cheap shot in the OHL.

• After scoring just 14 goals and seven assists in 42 games during his freshman season for the National Champions, the University of Denver, prospect Sam Harris has found a new gear. He currently has six goals and four assists in seven games.
• Vinzenz Rohrer got off to a red-hot start to the season with the ZSC Lions (NL), but like many young players, fell into a lull from a production standpoint. The good news is that he’s back to producing, with three goals in his last four games.

Vinzenz Rohrer, after watching him today he might be more of a Paul Byron (work in progress in regard to skating) than a Brendan Gallagher.
Rohrer’s seventh goal of the season comes on a shorthanded steal. #Habs #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/TbMIBoviNz

— Patrik Bexell (@Zeb_Habs) November 2, 2024