It's early in the 2025-26 season, but the St. Louis Blues could be facing buyer's regret if Logan Mailloux keeps paling compared to Zack Bolduc. While Mailloux enjoyed a good camp and preseason, his early returns haven't been stellar with the Blues, and that's a gut punch for a team that is looking to return to the playoffs.
Through three games, Mailloux has yet to put up a point, has a minus-3 rating, a 75.0 on-ice save percentage at even strength, and has yet to be on the ice for a goal. He's also averaged just 11:47 of average total ice time per game, which isn't great when you've been on the ice for three goals.
In Mailloux's defense, he came to St. Louis with just eight games of NHL experience and was no guarantee to earn a spot with the big club. Mailloux earned the right to wear the Blue Note, and there were going to be ups and downs with it being his first season in the Lou.
Still, if you're a playoff-caliber team, you can't make trades like this, even in foresight. Send Bolduc to a team with a proven blueliner? Absolutely, especially if you needed a good, young right-handed defenseman.
But for an unproven player like Mailloux? That was such a bad decision that even a newcomer to following pro hockey would have known that, let alone a veteran general manager like Doug Armstrong.
Zack Bolduc is elevating a playoff-caliber team in Montreal
Meanwhile, in Montreal, Zack Bolduc is putting on a scoring clinic, with three goals and four points in his first four games. Bolduc, who scored 19 goals with the Blues last season, is on pace to cruise past that milestone if he keeps up his high-octane play, while elevating an already solid team in Quebec.
And in case you're wondering, he's doing all of this with modest middle-six minutes while keeping up his physical edge with five body checks in those four contests. If there is any downside, Bolduc, like Mailloux, has been on the ice for three goals against, and his on-ice save percentage at even strength is a modest 83.3 percent.
Still, the Canadiens probably don't mind that advanced metric as much, especially if it means they have another chess piece offensively who will help them return to the playoffs. Should he keep this up, he's helping to fuel a young Habs team that has done nothing so far this season but score.
The Blues can't keep making trades that a rebuilding team would have made
If there's any good news to come out of this, it's that Mailloux is still acclimating to the NHL. It's not like he's gone into the season with expectations to be a star immediately. But still, it doesn't erase the fact that Armstrong made the type of trade general managers make when they're heading up rebuilding organizations.
Not that you shouldn't put trust in youngsters, because there's not a single team in the NHL that doesn't throw a rookie out there. Blues rookie forward Jimmy Snuggerud also has limited NHL experience, yet he's snagged two goals and three points in the first three games this season in St. Louis.
The only difference? Snuggerud spent time with the Blues last season and proved he belonged. Therefore, he was going to grow. Mailloux never stuck with the lineup in Montreal and spent most of his time in the AHL. Snuggerud was going to make the jump and would, therefore, elevate a playoff-caliber team. Mailloux wasn't going to do that, and it's showing.