NEW YORK — One minute into the St. Louis Blues’ matchup Monday with the New York Rangers, Logan Mailloux took his first shift with the team in about three weeks.

The 22-year-old rookie defenseman had his head on a swivel in front of the Blues’ net, played physical and put a nice up-ice pass on the stick of teammate Dalibor Dvorsky that helped gain entry into the offensive zone.

“Yeah, I felt more like myself out there,” Mailloux said.

On Nov. 5, Mailloux played his ninth game of the season and it would be his last for a while, as the Blues assigned him to AHL Springfield. GM Doug Armstrong called it a “reset” for the player the team acquired from the Montreal Canadiens last summer. Mailloux had no points, was a minus-12 and his lost confidence wasn’t going to be restored in St. Louis.

After 135 AHL games with Montreal’s affiliate, Laval Rocket, Mailloux believed he would never see the minors again in his career. But he did go back, playing five games with Springfield and scoring two goals. Time on ice isn’t made public in that league, but he logged about 20 minutes per game, and was on the power-play unit.

“Nobody wants to get sent down, but, no, I think it was good for me to play some minutes and play in all situations, just kind of get my feel back and my touch back,” Mailloux said. “It felt good to score, for sure. It’s been awhile.”

Mailloux played the last of his five games with Springfield Friday night, and rejoined the Blues on Sunday, watching their win over the New York Islanders from the press box. He was inserted into the lineup Monday against the New York Rangers, and Blues coach Jim Montgomery said he could sense some newfound confidence at the morning skate.

“I think he had a good tour of duty there in Springfield,” Montgomery said. “He feels good about his game, got a lot of touches, got a lot of minutes. Now he’s excited. You can just by the way he’s skating out there and the smile on his face.”

In the Blues’ 3-2 loss to the Rangers, Mailloux logged a total of 17 shifts for a total of 13:59 of ice time. He was a minus-2, but that was not indicative of his night.

On New York’s first goal that knotted the score  at1-1 in the second period, Mailloux (2:19) and defensive partner Cam Fowler (2:20) couldn’t get off the ice because of a long change. The Rangers squeezed a two-line pass through four Blues players, including Mailloux, that set up Vincent Trocheck for an open look at the net.

“Yeah, that’s unfortunate,” Mailloux said. “I was trying to get off and by the time I came back it was too late. I’ve got to do a better job on that one, so unfortunate that it ends up in the back of our net.”

GAVI ➡️ EDDY pic.twitter.com/s5z0trqtXM

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) November 25, 2025

Mailloux was also on the ice when the Rangers extended their lead to 3-1 in third period on a goal by Adam Edström. As he boxed out Tyler Raddysh, Fowler and Nathan Walker both went for the player behind the net, which left Edström open in front.

“That one kind of happened quick — a shot off the end wall, they pick it up, and it’s kind of bang-bang,” Mailloux said.

“The minus-2, I know the second goal, he had nothing to do with it,” Montgomery said.

Some slick passing + Troch puts it away. pic.twitter.com/ZPxAIGdKzG

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) November 25, 2025

Offensively, Mailloux set up Jordan Kyrou for a scoring chance early in the game, then got some late power-play time when the Blues pulled goalie Joel Hofer down two goals. Mailloux pulled up from the point and let go of a shot that was deflected by Pavel Buchnevich and went off the crossbar.

“It was good to kind of get some looks,” said Maiiloux, who had some success on the power play in Springfield. “I saw a couple of lanes, and the one almost went.”

“Yeah, I saw the videos,” said teammate Tyler Tucker, having fun with the fact that Mailloux scored his goals lower in the offensive zone where the forwards usually play. “Yeah, he’s a half-wall guy on the PP!”

Mailloux may not be a half-wall guy, but he can certainly help on the power play.

“I thought Mailloux was very assertive,” Montgomery said. “I liked him on the PP there at the end when we gave him an opportunity. I thought he was very aggressive and had a good shot-first mindset, but made some good passes.”

Judging by Mailloux’s performance Monday, it appears that the time with Springfield served him well. He said a step back will hopefully help him take a step forward.

“I didn’t start how I wanted to here and yeah it wasn’t going well for me,” he said. “But at the end of the day, I’m not really worried about that. I’m just focused on moving forward here and just hopefully playing my best hockey coming up.

“I was moving pucks (Monday), getting in the play, getting some shots off. Unfortunate ending, but I felt better for sure. I’m just going to try to keep playing my game and build off that. That definitely helped for sure.”

Tucker, who has spent his fair share of time in Springfield gaining confidence, said Mailloux’s time with the Thunderbirds can be beneficial.

“Obviously as a young guy, you don’t want to hear that,” Tucker said. “But it’s what you make of it, and he scored a couple of goals and started feeling like himself again.

“It’s all about the minutes. Obviously up here, he wasn’t playing a whole lot. Then he goes down there, and he’s probably playing 20 minutes a night. It’s all part of the process.”

Some of Mailloux’s other teammates can see that process taking shape.

“I thought he looked great,” Dylan Holloway said. “I thought he was humming in the first period, making lots of good plays, shooting really well. I really like his game.”

“He played great, moving the puck really well,” Colton Parayko said. “A lot of good shots. He had a shot there, tipped for a crossbar, at the end. Good to see him back and have him in the Blue Note.”