The Montreal Canadiens and St Louis Blues have connected on an intriguing trade on free-agency day. While NHL contracts start to be signed, these two teams flipped promising prospects to solve positional logjams. The Blues have sent forward Zach Bolduc to the Canadiens for defenseman Logan Mailloux in a one-for-one swap.

Both Mailloux and Bolduc were drafted in the first round of the 2021 NHL Draft. The Blues took Bolduc 17th overall after a historic season with the Quebec Remparts in juniors. His 110 points in 60 games made him a big-time prospect, and his scoring has carried over to the NHL. With St Louis last year, he scored 19 goals in 72 games at just 22 years old.

Logan Mailloux has been traded from the Canadiens to the Blues after playing only eight games with the NHL club. He was the 31st overall pick in the 2021 draft, falling due to allegations of taking inappropriate pictures of a woman while playing junior hockey in Sweden. He renounced himself from the draft, saying he did not want to be picked. The Habs took him anyways.

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Mailloux has played 135 games with the Laval Rocket of the American Hockey League. He is a big defenseman who can still grow into his body to become a better defender at the NHL level. After the Noah Dobson trade, the Canadiens created a logjam at defense. They did, however, need another young goal scorer. They connected with the Blues, who were in the opposite situation.

The Canadiens and Blues were discussing an even bigger trade, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun. “As we had reported before, the Habs and Blues had talked about a larger Jordan Kyrou deal and obviously that didn't come to pass. Kyrou's full no-move kicked in last night at midnight.”

ClutchPoints is tracking every move on NHL free agency day. Stay with us for more on the Canadiens, Blues, and everyone in between.