In a Tough Spot with Mailloux

[stlblue06]

This isn’t a Mailloux bashing thread or am I saying he is a bust but the reality is that the Blues did not expect this kind of start from both the team and LM.

After last night the Blues season is now officially in danger of slipping away early and they can no longer afford to throw LM out there and let him “develop” or “learn”.

Sure he’s getting terrible goaltending when he’s been on the ice but the eye test doesn’t provide much of a response to his stats. I just saw the 5th goal where he was looking directly at the Caps player that batted the puck with his hand past him on a 3 on 2 rush. Wilson and Ovi stopped skating and Hofer probably assumed the play would be dead.

To dive at the puck and tap it to the Caps forward that immediately scored is one of the dumbest hockey plays you will ever see from an NHL player. If he was showing signs of what he is supposed to be good at (great offensive instincts/shot) then I say keep him up but I can’t recall ONE rush or ONE shot that looked threatening from him. Not even ONE above average outlet pass that started a 2 on 1 or hell even a 3 on 2.

I think the Blues will send him down and bring Rosen up or they will healthy scratch him for at least the next 10 games.

[Harry S Deals]

If you wanted to commit to Mailloux then Tucker is a poor choice as partner

[MiamiLaw]

If he was showing signs of what he is supposed to be good at (great offensive instincts/shot) then I say keep him up but I can’t recall ONE rush or ONE shot that looked threatening from him. Not even ONE above average outlet pass that started a 2 on 1 or hell even a 3 on 2.

Yep, this is the thing that continues to concern me. I could live with growing pains if we saw something, anything, that justified him being in the lineup. He's not ready. Maybe he will be one day but the Blues are going to have to admit they badly misjudged his readiness (at the very least).

[bud white]

If you wanted to commit to Mailloux then Tucker is a poor choice as partner

Agreed. Tucker has had his share of questionable decisions lately.

[blackinkbiz]

This isn’t a Mailloux bashing thread or am I saying he is a bust but the reality is that the Blues did not expect this kind of start from both the team and LM.

After last night the Blues season is now officially in danger of slipping away early and they can no longer afford to throw LM out there and let him “develop” or “learn”.

Sure he’s getting terrible goaltending when he’s been on the ice but the eye test doesn’t provide much of a response to his stats. I just saw the 5th goal where he was looking directly at the Caps player that batted the puck with his hand past him on a 3 on 2 rush. Wilson and Ovi stopped skating and Hofer probably assumed the play would be dead.

To dive at the puck and tap it to the Caps forward that immediately scored is one of the dumbest hockey plays you will ever see from an NHL player. If he was showing signs of what he is supposed to be good at (great offensive instincts/shot) then I say keep him up but I can’t recall ONE rush or ONE shot that looked threatening from him. Not even ONE above average outlet pass that started a 2 on 1 or hell even a 3 on 2.

I think the Blues will send him down and bring Rosen up or they will healthy scratch him for at least the next 10 games.

This is precisely what every Habs fan warned about when I asked them about Logan on their forum. 0 defensive instincts. And I completely agree if he would just show SOMETHING on offense that you could say okay, there's the potential, just have to harness it. But, nope, it's the complete opposite. You just can't keep a rookie with 0 goals and 0 assists with a -13 +/- on a last-place team when you're trying to climb out of the cellar.

Rosen or even Kessel would be a better replacement for now. My concern is this is very similar to Cardinalsesque-type stubborness in that they feel they gave up so much to get him they're going to play him no matter what, which would be idiotic.

[somni]

Having both Tucker and Mailloux in the same lineup is disastrous. They can't be paired together. And when you split them, now the defensive pairings are weaker.

Tucker is a #7 dman. I don't see him getting any better. He's good for about 50 games, IMO.

Mailloux is a project. Maybe if the team was firing on all cylinders he could be slotted in as a #6 guy with a proven vet. But in this scenario and the way the team is playing, he isn't learning anything except to be frustrated.

While Mailloux has proven it in the AHL, I think sending him down to get some solid games and confidence would be beneficial. Heck, I'm ready to see Rosen and Hunter Skinner.

[seattleblue]

We are on the Lindstein Clock

Tucker and Mailloux have been NHL unplayable this season and there seem to be no signs of that changing

Rosen is a vet callup I expect within about a week, he is better than these two right now. Skinner they don't want to rush/ruin but he is going to get some games too. Skinner shows the flashes that Mailloux has shown a grand total of 0 of

[theograce]

Mails just looks like a really dumb guy

[stlblue06]

If you wanted to commit to Mailloux then Tucker is a poor choice as partner

This is clearly true but I don’t agree with others saying Tucker is not an NHL defender either. Sure he has bad games and mistakes but I see a lot more good than bad in Tucker for an inexperienced bottom pair guy.

Why isn’t Kessel a train reck when paired with Tucker? That pairing isn’t bleeding goals (in fact they are the only + defenders on the team) and overall doing their job.

[Nublues69]

Mails just looks like a really dumb guy

coming from you that has to be a compliment

[stlblue06]

This is precisely what every Habs fan warned about when I asked them about Logan on their forum. 0 defensive instincts. And I completely agree if he would just show SOMETHING on offense that you could say okay, there's the potential, just have to harness it. But, nope, it's the complete opposite. You just can't keep a rookie with 0 goals and 0 assists with a -13 +/- on a last-place team when you're trying to climb out of the cellar.

Rosen or even Kessel would be a better replacement for now. My concern is this is very similar to Cardinalsesque-type stubborness in that they feel they gave up so much to get him they're going to play him no matter what, which would be idiotic.

I don’t get what Army was thinking with the 5-7 dmen plan going into this season. Last year he brought in Suter when we still had a healthy Leddy to go along with PO, Tucker, Kessel (no Fowler).

I was confused because Kessel (who was just a few months older than LM is now) came out of nowhere to fill in for Faulk in the top 4 and did an incredible job the season before. Over 15:00 MIN of ice, 7 points, and even in 39 games. Then he doesn’t even get a spot anywhere in the top 6. So Army was all about the aging vets paired with a young guy for the bottom pair then but then gets rid of Leddy without re-signing Suter/another vet this year.

[Kilokaai]

So they mention it on 101 earlier, but I have to agree the worst thing that happened last year/this off season was Tyler Tucker having a great stretch of games during the time where you make plans for the next year. His injury made it impossible for us to know the if that was sustainable or not but it also made Ryan Suter viewed as expendable when there might have been a chance to bring him back.

As a result, we have two very "green" looking defensemen on the bottom pairing. I know folks are going to based LM because of his +/- but I am far more confused what Tucker is thinking than any other defender in the lineup most nights. I just don't see the same Tucker from last year at all, and leadership is really doing LM no favors bouncing him around with all different partners because there is no way they can put him with Tucker.

When we move Tucker/LM around to other partners we still weaken two of the defensive parings, I think that applies to LM/Tucker/Kessell. IMO I don't think any of them are a good 5th right now. Which makes the 6th/7th defensemen irrelevant, we desperately need a 5th NHL caliber D and then let one of those three be the 6th.

[fish]

Mails just looks like a really dumb guy

Just curious, are looks your determiner for who’s a good at playing hockey? No judgement, just curious

[BalotelliMassive]

Mailloux is a project.

Yup - the hype from the beginning was out of control. I don't understand why Armstrong felt the need to add a project defenseman to a team he built to compete for a cup.

[Harry S Deals]

Early in the first period Mailloux pinched in and went to the net but of course the pass never came, I honestly flipped the game off at 3-0 so i didnt see the other goals against my assumption is the complete lackadaisical team play led more to the goals against than the 6th defenseman did.
But nothing has changed since this trade was made anyone who knows what they are talking about said it will take Logan Mailloux time to be effective perhaps 100+ NHL games. IF LM had a Suter or Leddy on the LHD side perhaps the Blues would be able to carry Mailloux more this isnt all on the kid

[theograce]

Mails just looks like a really dumb guy

Just curious, are looks your determiner for who’s a good at playing hockey? No judgement, just curious

I mean on the ice