Well, from my perspective having watched Mailloux closely this past season, I couldn’t agree less with the assessment that Mailloux ‘is not a very good playmaker.’ Playmaking is the essence of Mailloux’s skill set. As I repeatedly stated, I have not seen a defensive prospect since Subban who’s had a better first past. In fact, he has a better first pass than any current Montreal defenceman. Among our defensive prospects only Hutson comes close to Mailloux’s offensive vision. In skating ability, Mailloux has greater straight forward speed than Reinbacher and in all other aspects their skating is comparable except for one: strength on their skates. For those who say Mailloux is a physical defenceman, they haven’t obviously watched him closely. Despite his size and reputation Mailloux is not a physical defenceman. In his own zone Mailloux is a finese defenceman because he lacks the strength and inclination to physically challenge and control opposing players. From what I have seen so far, Reinbacher is a much more physical player who closes the gap faster and more aggressively than Mailloux and tries in every instance to impose his physical will on opposing players. Opposing forwards will hate playing against Reinbacher because of his combination of mobility, size and physicality. Goalies ( and blocking defencemen) will hate playing against Mailloux because of his shot.
Because of his limitations ( which can be addressed) and the fact that he has lost so much development time, it will take longer for Mailloux to make his mark in the NHL than Reinbacher. But when Reinbacher, Mailloux, Hutson join Guhle, Barron, Xhekaj and Matheson on Montreal’s blueline, this will be a team to reckon with, regardless of who’s playing as forwards.
