Mailloux and his Defense

[a smell of green grass]

I listened to several HABS podcasts, and the ding against Mailloux is his defense. Evidently, he very noticeably commits bad mistakes on Defense. One person further said that Mailloux would likely never work for Montreal because they run a complicated defense that requires their defenseman to think and respond quickly. Another person said that Montreal tried to include him in the trade to the Islanders (for Dobson), but the Islanders did not want him. Another person talked about how he needs good coaching.

How does our defensive plans/approach compare to Montreal's?

[DawgDad]

Montreal allowed 30 more goals than the Blues did last season. They are playing catch-up.

[b-a-a-a-rclay]

Mailloux is a 22 yo dman. He has played 8 NHL games. He WILL make mistakes. He is a two time AHL All Star. The Blues will encourage him to activate offensively. They will also work with him to show him situations where he should and shouldn't take risks. HIs evolution into a more well rounded dman won't happen over night. Watching young offensively gifted Dmen develop isn't for every fan.

[rezero]

Mailloux is a 22 yo dman. He has played 8 NHL games. He WILL make mistakes. He is a two time AHL All Star. The Blues will encourage him to activate offensively. They will also work with him to show him situations where he should and shouldn't take risks. HIs evolution into a more well rounded dman won't happen over night. Watching young offensively gifted Dmen develop isn't for every fan.

The problem noted on the Habs board is he makes more mistakes than a 22yo DMan should. They were not expecting him to play like a vet, but even with rookie glasses his defense was rough. Two example they gave was leaving a player wide open the crease to be a third person along the wall for a puck battle. The other was getting the puck at the blue line while the team had possession in the offensive zone and trying to skate the puck past two defenders and getting picked for a 2 on 0. Both of these don’t scream of 22yr old player making rookie mistakes, but someone who is reckless. As one other poster noted, Monte runs a very discipline defensive scheme so maybe this and the vet presence we have on defense can get him on the right path.

[a smell of green grass]

Mailloux is a 22 yo dman. He has played 8 NHL games. He WILL make mistakes. He is a two time AHL All Star. The Blues will encourage him to activate offensively. They will also work with him to show him situations where he should and shouldn't take risks. HIs evolution into a more well rounded dman won't happen over night. Watching young offensively gifted Dmen develop isn't for every fan.

The problem noted on the Habs board is he makes more mistakes than a 22yo DMan should. They were not expecting him to play like a vet, but even with rookie glasses his defense was rough. Two example they gave was leaving a player wide open the crease to be a third person along the wall for a puck battle. The other was getting the puck at the blue line while the team had possession in the offensive zone and trying to skate the puck past two defenders and getting picked for a 2 on 0. Both of these don’t scream of 22yr old player making rookie mistakes, but someone who is reckless. As one other poster noted, Monte runs a very discipline defensive scheme so maybe this and the vet presence we have on defense can get him on the right path.

Thank you for the information. Interesting read.

[somni]

Some context here. Six of the 8 dmen on the Canadiens were under 24 years old. Martin St. Louis plays a hybrid system...man to man with zone. It's complicated and takes awhile to learn. Furthermore, there were some injuries and Mailloux was paired with Hutson some of the time, another rookie who was flying all over the place.

Monty plays a very active defensive game relying on quick transition and freedom for the dmen to be very active in the o-zone. If you noticed last year when the Blues were playing their best, as soon as the puck went out of the zone, even if back to the d-zone, they quickly turned around and started a rush. And how many times did we see Parayko lead a rush or end up behind the net. There are other parts, but you get the idea.

It will be bumpy at first for Mailloux to become an integral part of the play, but he's got Parayko, Fowler, and even Faulk to guide him. And most importantly, he has Monty, a great coach for him.

[b-a-a-a-rclay]

Mailloux is a 22 yo dman. He has played 8 NHL games. He WILL make mistakes. He is a two time AHL All Star. The Blues will encourage him to activate offensively. They will also work with him to show him situations where he should and shouldn't take risks. HIs evolution into a more well rounded dman won't happen over night. Watching young offensively gifted Dmen develop isn't for every fan.

The problem noted on the Habs board is he makes more mistakes than a 22yo DMan should. They were not expecting him to play like a vet, but even with rookie glasses his defense was rough. Two example they gave was leaving a player wide open the crease to be a third person along the wall for a puck battle. The other was getting the puck at the blue line while the team had possession in the offensive zone and trying to skate the puck past two defenders and getting picked for a 2 on 0. Both of these don’t scream of 22yr old player making rookie mistakes, but someone who is reckless. As one other poster noted, Monte runs a very discipline defensive scheme so maybe this and the vet presence we have on defense can get him on the right path.

I have heard the same reports. The fact remains that he missed almost 2 seasons of development time. No doubt he is going to be playing catch up. He also was projected as a solid 1st round pick and has made 2 AHL all star teams. He's got big upside but a lot of growth to become a complete player.

[a smell of green grass]

Some context here. Six of the 8 dmen on the Canadiens were under 24 years old. Martin St. Louis plays a hybrid system...man to man with zone. It's complicated and takes awhile to learn. Furthermore, there were some injuries and Mailloux was paired with Hutson some of the time, another rookie who was flying all over the place.

Monty plays a very active defensive game relying on quick transition and freedom for the dmen to be very active in the o-zone. If you noticed last year when the Blues were playing their best, as soon as the puck went out of the zone, even if back to the d-zone, they quickly turned around and started a rush. And how many times did we see Parayko lead a rush or end up behind the net. There are other parts, but you get the idea.

It will be bumpy at first for Mailloux to become an integral part of the play, but he's got Parayko, Fowler, and even Faulk to guide him. And most importantly, he has Monty, a great coach for him.

Good information. Thank you.

Are you concerned that the Blues have shown little patience with defenseman committing errors in the past? They aren't noted as a gang that "teaches", are they? They seem like a team that would rather rent-an-old-dude than tolerate mistakes by a young player.

[STL fan in MN]

Mailloux is a 22 yo dman. He has played 8 NHL games. He WILL make mistakes. He is a two time AHL All Star. The Blues will encourage him to activate offensively. They will also work with him to show him situations where he should and shouldn't take risks. HIs evolution into a more well rounded dman won't happen over night. Watching young offensively gifted Dmen develop isn't for every fan.

The problem noted on the Habs board is he makes more mistakes than a 22yo DMan should. They were not expecting him to play like a vet, but even with rookie glasses his defense was rough. Two example they gave was leaving a player wide open the crease to be a third person along the wall for a puck battle. The other was getting the puck at the blue line while the team had possession in the offensive zone and trying to skate the puck past two defenders and getting picked for a 2 on 0. Both of these don’t scream of 22yr old player making rookie mistakes, but someone who is reckless. As one other poster noted, Monte runs a very discipline defensive scheme so maybe this and the vet presence we have on defense can get him on the right path.

I have heard the same reports. The fact remains that he missed almost 2 seasons of development time. No doubt he is going to be playing catch up. He also was projected as a solid 1st round pick and has made 2 AHL all star teams. He's got big upside but a lot of growth to become a complete player.

I agree with this take. Mailloux’s biggest weakness seems to be his defensive play but he also has some really positive features as well. And he missed about 2 years of development so there’s logic to the thinking that he’ll just need a bit more time than he likely would’ve if he hadn’t missed that time.

Young d-men are going to make mistakes. He has less than 10 games under his belt so he’s going to make plenty of them. But Monty is an excellent teaching coach and is known to be good with young players. We’ll just need to give him some slack and hope he learns relatively fast.

[somni]

Some context here. Six of the 8 dmen on the Canadiens were under 24 years old. Martin St. Louis plays a hybrid system...man to man with zone. It's complicated and takes awhile to learn. Furthermore, there were some injuries and Mailloux was paired with Hutson some of the time, another rookie who was flying all over the place.

Monty plays a very active defensive game relying on quick transition and freedom for the dmen to be very active in the o-zone. If you noticed last year when the Blues were playing their best, as soon as the puck went out of the zone, even if back to the d-zone, they quickly turned around and started a rush. And how many times did we see Parayko lead a rush or end up behind the net. There are other parts, but you get the idea.

It will be bumpy at first for Mailloux to become an integral part of the play, but he's got Parayko, Fowler, and even Faulk to guide him. And most importantly, he has Monty, a great coach for him.

Good information. Thank you.

Are you concerned that the Blues have shown little patience with defenseman committing errors in the past? They aren't noted as a gang that "teaches", are they? They seem like a team that would rather rent-an-old-dude than tolerate mistakes by a young player.

I'm not concerned at all. IMO, the Blues are transitioning the team to a younger and more well-balanced team. Monty is a great teacher. They are building the team in his mold and giving him the players to develop. It's a perfect time with all the young guns knocking at the door.

The old guys are stop-gaps. Oddly enough, I think they need another Suter like player on defense for just one more year. Tucker/Mailloux need some room to grow, IMO.

[Tony Palazzolo]

What we should be excited about this kid is that amongst all we've heard about his game his character is what nobody questions. Everything points to him working hard and being coachable. While I don't think he was in a bad environment a change of scenery can also be boost.

[a smell of green grass]

Some context here. Six of the 8 dmen on the Canadiens were under 24 years old. Martin St. Louis plays a hybrid system...man to man with zone. It's complicated and takes awhile to learn. Furthermore, there were some injuries and Mailloux was paired with Hutson some of the time, another rookie who was flying all over the place.

Monty plays a very active defensive game relying on quick transition and freedom for the dmen to be very active in the o-zone. If you noticed last year when the Blues were playing their best, as soon as the puck went out of the zone, even if back to the d-zone, they quickly turned around and started a rush. And how many times did we see Parayko lead a rush or end up behind the net. There are other parts, but you get the idea.

It will be bumpy at first for Mailloux to become an integral part of the play, but he's got Parayko, Fowler, and even Faulk to guide him. And most importantly, he has Monty, a great coach for him.

Good information. Thank you.

Are you concerned that the Blues have shown little patience with defenseman committing errors in the past? They aren't noted as a gang that "teaches", are they? They seem like a team that would rather rent-an-old-dude than tolerate mistakes by a young player.

I'm not concerned at all. IMO, the Blues are transitioning the team to a younger and more well-balanced team. Monty is a great teacher. They are building the team in his mold and giving him the players to develop. It's a perfect time with all the young guns knocking at the door.

The old guys are stop-gaps. Oddly enough, I think they need another Suter like player on defense for just one more year. Tucker/Mailloux need some room to grow, IMO.

I see. I really appreciate your knowledge. I'm encouraged that you see a happy ending for this.

Do you see players currently "teaching" the younger guys in 2023/24? Is that a well-established "school" that we can count on for Mailloux?

[a smell of green grass]

What we should be excited about this kid is that amongst all we've heard about his game his character is what nobody questions. Everything points to him working hard and being coachable. While I don't think he was in a bad environment a change of scenery can also be boost.

I agree with this. Good points.

[a smell of green grass]

Mailloux is a 22 yo dman. He has played 8 NHL games. He WILL make mistakes. He is a two time AHL All Star. The Blues will encourage him to activate offensively. They will also work with him to show him situations where he should and shouldn't take risks. HIs evolution into a more well rounded dman won't happen over night. Watching young offensively gifted Dmen develop isn't for every fan.

The problem noted on the Habs board is he makes more mistakes than a 22yo DMan should. They were not expecting him to play like a vet, but even with rookie glasses his defense was rough. Two example they gave was leaving a player wide open the crease to be a third person along the wall for a puck battle. The other was getting the puck at the blue line while the team had possession in the offensive zone and trying to skate the puck past two defenders and getting picked for a 2 on 0. Both of these don’t scream of 22yr old player making rookie mistakes, but someone who is reckless. As one other poster noted, Monte runs a very discipline defensive scheme so maybe this and the vet presence we have on defense can get him on the right path.

I have heard the same reports. The fact remains that he missed almost 2 seasons of development time. No doubt he is going to be playing catch up. He also was projected as a solid 1st round pick and has made 2 AHL all star teams. He's got big upside but a lot of growth to become a complete player.

I agree with this take. Mailloux’s biggest weakness seems to be his defensive play but he also has some really positive features as well. And he missed about 2 years of development so there’s logic to the thinking that he’ll just need a bit more time than he likely would’ve if he hadn’t missed that time.

Young d-men are going to make mistakes. He has less than 10 games under his belt so he’s going to make plenty of them. But Monty is an excellent teaching coach and is known to be good with young players. We’ll just need to give him some slack and hope he learns relatively fast.

You'll find that I am very patient with losses. I'm the guy that wants a TOP5 draft pick more than anybody West of the Mississippi

[HighStick]

Can anybody tell me why he missed 2 years of development?
Seems like something off ice happened but I'm not in the loop. What's the black cloud around this kid?

[b-a-a-a-rclay]

Can anybody tell me why he missed 2 years of development?
Seems like something off ice happened but I'm not in the loop. What's the black cloud around this kid?

Covid year shut down. And an incident you can google.