Canadiens Daily
Habs Daily: Mailloux Trade Talk, First-Round Picks, Demidov
Here are the Montreal Canadiens news items, stories, and content you may have missed on Friday.
Montreal Canadiens News
Chris Johnston suggested the Montreal Canadiens are prepared to move one or both of their first-round picks in a trade that involves an NHL-ready player as the key part of the return. This lines up with what we’ve been hearing for several weeks now. [NHL Draft Prospects – Trades and Players Available at 16th and 17th Overall]
Johnston went on to list Habs prospect Logan Mailloux as a potential trade target for some teams, and that was certainly news. To be clear, the Canadiens aren’t in a rush to trade Mailloux, nor did Johnston suggest a deal is imminent. That being said, given that both Mailloux and David Reinbacher are yet to take a significant step forward in their development, at least in respect to their glaring weaknesses, the Canadiens would be wise to entertain offers. After all, it’s simply performing due diligence as a general manager. [Canadiens Trade Talk – First-Round Picks And Logan Mailloux]
The Laval Rocket were mum on Friday, not a surprising outcome given the difficult start to the Eastern Conference Final versus the Charlotte Checkers. Laval is down 0-2 in the series, with the next three games scheduled to take place in Charlotte.
As for which goaltender is expected to start Game 3 on Sunday afternoon, we can assume Jacob Fowler is on deck, but head coach Pascal Vincent is keeping his cards very close to his vest, which means Cayden Primeau may start his third game in a row. For what it’s worth, Fowler looked pretty good in his limited time on the ice once he relieved Primeau.
Jacob Fowler stops the Michigan attempt. #LavalRocket pic.twitter.com/RjH2sUnFZa
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) May 30, 2025
Speaking of goalies, it’s always encouraging to remember Samuel Montembeault was playing incredibly well prior to his injury in the first round versus the Washginton Capitals. Unfortunately, the Habs were facing the best playoff goalie from a statistical standpoint.
Top playoff goalies after round 3 https://t.co/RtBkDPbkvW pic.twitter.com/E3ud0mb1op
— MoneyPuck.com (@MoneyPuckdotcom) May 30, 2025
It’s the offseason, which means we’re going to see a lot of footage from various individuals preparing for training camp. On that note, seeing top prospect Ivan Demidov busy at work is a reminder of his intense desire to continue improving upon his already impressive skill set. It’s the same type of dedication we’ve seen from Lane Hutson.
Ivan Demidov skating at the Habs practice rink in Brossard this week
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) May 30, 2025
National Hockey Now Network
Mike Sullivan is now the New York Rangers head coach. Winning will be the immediate priority even as he deals with a couple of younger players who are struggling to find their full potential. [Pittsburgh Penguins]
Matthew Tkachuk returned to ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show on Friday afternoon to preview the Stanley Cup Final rematch between his Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers. [Florida Panthers]
Following yet another year of postseason mediocrity, the Toronto Maple Leafs are finally committing to making significant roster changes. And while nothing is set in stone, as of now, that means that Mitch Marner will become an Unrestricted Free Agent on July 1st. [Vegas Golden Knights]
Mailloux has played 135 games with the Laval Rocket and has been selected to the AHL all star team in both of his 2 AHL seasons. So he has certainly earned a promotion to play for the Canadians starting next season. Engstrom and Reinbacher are also excellent prospects but Reinbacher has only played 21 games in the AHL and Engstrom only 66 games in the AHL. So provided Mailloux has a good training camp he should definitely be in the starting lineup on opening day.
All three of the young defencemen mentioned are good looking prospects. I think the decision on who mgmt. will keep and who they’ll let go will have a lot to do with defending more than scoring .
If we look at the goals against for each of the 8 playoff teams for this season , the Habs lag behind , this being a team stat but depending a lot on the defencemen.
Caps.- 232- , Leafs 231 , T.B- 233 , Carolina -233, Fla.- 223 , Ottawa – 234 , N.J.- 222 , Habs – 265
In goals scored the the Canadiens aren’t as bad off , their 245 goals were more than the Devils and Sens and just 7 less than Florida.
Mailloux is still young and has plenty of upside but I can see Gorton and Hughes leaning toward the defence that Reinbacher and Engstrom should be able to give the Habs .
I agree with your very good analysis. I would add though that the Laval Rockets allowed the fewest goals in the American Hockey League this year only 178 goals So the defensive weaknesses of Mailloux did not seem to be that significant. Mind you the goalies were exceptional so that could be a factor also.
I agree with you that Laval’s overall season wasn’t hurt by Mailloux’s defensive play this season . As you noted the Rocket led in goals against and their goal differential was at +51 , that’s up 40 goals from 2023/24 .
Mailloux has progressed over his 2 years in Laval , but I believe that in a shorter time for Reinbacher and Engstrom , they’ve shown more results that I think project for them to be better defenders . Their curve is ahead for now anyway .
In this year’s playoffs Engstrom is at a plus 4 after turning in an impressive plus 14 as a rookie .
Reinbacher is at plus 2 this playoff after having a plus 11 over 21 regular season games from last season and this one .
Mailloux is at -5 this playoff so far these playoffs . His first two regular seasons were -5 in 2023/24 and + 5 this year .