The Montreal Canadiens have signed defenceman Logan Mailloux to an entry-level contract, the club announced Wednesday morning. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Canadiens' selection of Mailloux in the first round (31st overall) of the NHL Draft in 2021 became a flashpoint for how the sport handles sexual violence.
Prior to being chosen, Mailloux had said he didn't deserve the honour or privilege of being an NHL draft pick and renounced himself from the draft. The statement came as news emerged that — while playing in Sweden in late 2020 — he secretly photographed an 18-year-old woman who was engaged in a sexual act with him, and then shared the image with his teammates without her consent. Mailloux was charged under Swedish law with defamation and offensive photography and fined approximately $1,650.
The Canadiens drafted him anyway, a decision that was chastised from many spheres of the hockey community. The rebuke was broad enough even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau weighed in, saying the Canadiens "showed a lack of judgment."
Montreal later announced Mailloux would not participate in rookie camp or the team's main training camp in the first year he was eligible.
"This is a decision that we have thought through carefully," Canadiens GM Kent Hughes said in a statement. "Having Logan around members of our team and hockey operations staff for a good part of the summer allowed us to gain a greater appreciation of Logan Mailloux the person.
"He has an opportunity to affect positive change and we will work to support him in any effort towards that goal. Logan recognizes the impact of his gesture and of course, the process continues."
Mailloux, who is from Belle River, Ont., played just 12 games last season for the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League, collecting three goals and six assists.
Mailloux's time with the Canadiens has involved attending therapy, which he has credited with being beneficial in helping him understand "what's going on in my life and how I can better myself moving forward."
"I would have changed everything that I've done, 100 per cent, I've definitely changed a lot as a person and as a human the past two years," Mailloux said in July, though he stopped short of detailing what he believed the nature of those changes was. "I wasn't educated back then, I feel like I am now."
The woman Mailloux victimized told The Athletic just before Mailloux renounced himself from the draft in 2021 that she did not think he "understood the seriousness of his behaviour," and said that his apology amounted to "a text that was no longer than three sentences."
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