Green light: Logan Mailloux recently spoke with the NHL

As you know, Logan Mailloux has been recalled by the Canadiens. He’ll be playing tonight, much to the delight of many fans.

When a prospect is recalled, there’s usually no big discussion: the player can simply break into his club’s line-up and play his first game.

Normally, when a guy like Mailloux is recalled, the question is: will he play on the power play… if there is a power play? Will he get more playing time than Lane Hutson?

But with Mailloux’s history, he’d need the green light from the NHL. And even though we know he met with the NHL last summer, we still didn’t have confirmation from the NHL that he had the league’s OK.

But now we have it.

From the NHL. They have cleared Logan Mailloux to play for@CanadiensMTL pic.twitter.com/muOWQfbCA5

– Eric Engels (@EricEngels) April 16, 2024

It’s been a long road from being drafted in 2021 to being recalled in 2024, but here we are. He’s gotten used to being a pro, and he’ll finally get a taste of his dream at the end of the season.

My colleague Maxime Truman, who broke the news a while back, wasn’t expecting it, either.

But what’s interesting is that Mailloux met with the NHL about a month ago. That’s what Renaud Lavoie reported this morning on Twitter.

He had a discussion with management, presumably to follow up on his season and his progress off the ice.

Logan Mailloux had another discussion with NHL officials about a month ago, I’m told. He obviously has the green light to play his first NHL game. @CanadiensMTL @TVASports

– Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) April 16, 2024

In other words, Mailloux will be able to take part in the Canadiens’ end-of-season “festivities”. We’re talking about tomorrow’s final game and locker emptying.

A Habs fan will obviously have a Mailloux jersey tonight, if the tradition of other years continues.

He could be at the club’s locker emptying, even if he’s not the one we’ll want to hear from the most. After all, he’ll have spoken to reporters following Tuesday night’s game.

Will injured players like Arber Xhekaj or Kirby Dach be talking? I wonder.