The Montreal Canadiens stunned the rest of the NHL on Friday night by taking Logan Mailloux with the second-to-last pick in the first round of the draft.
Mailloux, who was criminally convicted in Sweden last year for sharing an explicit photo of a woman performing a sex act without her consent, asked teams not to select him. A player cannot remove himself from the draft.
“We will work closely with him and give him the support he needs,” general manager Marc Bergevin said. “I know he’s been remorseful about the incident, which we truly don’t agree with it in all sense of the world, but he’s a young man who made a serious mistake of judgment and we really have to work with him. We did talk to him, and he’s fully aware of that and he’s very remorseful, so that is a big step.”
Mailloux said in a social media statement this week, “I don’t feel I have demonstrated strong enough maturity or character” to be drafted this year. Bergevin made it clear Mailloux, 18, was eligible to be taken.
“We understand, and we’re fully aware and we as an organization (believe) it’s very unacceptable, but also it’s a young man that made a terrible mistake,” Bergevin said. “He’s remorseful and he has a lot of work to do, but he already started to put it behind him and have a hockey career.”
In a prepared statement he read before taking questions, Bergevin said the Canadiens “not only selected a promising hockey player, but also a young man who recently admitted to making a serious mistake” and “by no means minimize the severity of Logan’s actions.”
Bergevin said the Canadiens are committed to helping Mailloux by “providing him with the tools to mature and the necessary support to guide him in his development.”