The St. Louis Blues were able to look past their 3-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils in the first game of the most recent back-to-back, with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild. A win that snapped a 10-game losing streak on any sheet of ice outside of the Enterprise Center.
One of the most helpful components of this win on Sunday evening was thanks to a budding defenseman that everyone has been awaiting. Logan Mailloux, who has shown the worst kind of growing pains for a first-year defenseman in recent memory this season, has kicked things up a notch as of late.
Could we finally be seeing the vision that General Manager Doug Armstrong had with this kid when he made that mind-boggling trade with Montreal in the offseason?
A glimpse into the future?
LO-GOAL 🚨 pic.twitter.com/WXlrmoCoFP
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 1, 2026
This right here is what all Blues fans have been waiting to see. Mailloux's strongest part of his game, according to his scouting report out of Junior hockey and into his AHL career, was his ability to shoot the puck and create scoring chances. That has not been seen much at the NHL-level this season, hence the emphasis on the severe growing pains.
But that snipe from the top of the circle past Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson was a reminder that this kid could be something special. There is hope that he can continue to develop in whatever the next era of Blues hockey will be following this season, and he will be a key factor in getting them back to the more competitive side of the NHL hierarchy.
Mailloux has seen an uptick in ice time since the Olympics ended, with growing numbers over the last three games. Obviously, head coach Jim Montgomery is happy with his performance and is rewarding him with more opportunities. Over the last three games, he has seen 19:01, 20:35, and 20:32 of ice time, respectively.
With 22 games remaining, can this trend continue for No. 23? Are we finally seeing his true potential, and a glimpse at the future first-pair right-defenseman, aiding Philip Broberg?