No, Logan Mailloux must not speed up the habs rebuild, Paul

He also indicated in the same interview that Owen Beck has what it takes to be a surprise next year at the Canadiens’ camp.

Why do I find Paul Byron’s butter too thick in my eyes? Simply because journalists and fans are already very dreamy when it comes to the organization’s hopes, and it mustn’t throw oil on the fire. Wasn’t Mattias Norlinder supposed to be the next Nicklas Lidstrom?

All season long, we’ve been reading or hearing here and there that Beck, Bogdan Konyushkov, Adam Engstrom, Oliver Kapanen and so on were already NHL-calibre. That they’d already be impact players in the show if they were.

As a result, the organization often rows hard in an attempt to turn the tide and lower fans ‘ expectations of this or that prospect. Why do they do this? Because we know that, in the end, these hopefuls are likely to perform better if they feel a little less outside pressure. This is Montreal, after all…

Francis Bouillon had to skate a lot during his visit to La Poche Bleue last month. He wanted to avoid adding unnecessary pressure on the shoulders of any particular youngster.

Logan Mailloux, Juraj Slafkovsky and the pressure of being a first-round pick
The Canadiens’ coaches and management have gone to great lengths not to put too much pressure on the shoulders of Juraj Slafkovsky, the first overall pick in 2022.

However, when Paul Byron comes out and tells us that Logan Mailloux has the potential to accelerate the rebuild and that Owen Beck could make the club next year, it has the opposite effect and only increases the pressure on these two youngsters. And obviously, they’re not yet equipped like veterans to handle that pressure.

Paul, leave the excitement and optimism to the journalists and fans, and you try to calm everyone down by playing it safe. Act as if you were on the other side of the pendulum or the yin-yang. #Balance

That said, I love you the same, Paul. So does everyone else here. And I won’t hold it against you if Beck doesn’t make the team in October and Mailloux isn’t good enough to speed up the long rebuild we’re in!

Openness and transparency have their limits: those of pressure and chauvinism. Especially since if fans start calling for the rebuild to be speeded up after a few good games by Mailloux in Montreal, no one will gain anything. #LeClubNEstPrêt

In brief

– Messi in Montreal on May 11: there are still a lot of tickets on sale on the official CF Montreal website.

– If Messi’s presence in the Inter Miami squad is ever confirmed, these 2,500 tickets are likely to sell out ultra quickly, even if they are very expensive.

– Don’t bury a team too quickly.