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Woman victimized by NHL prospect in Sweden: ‘All I wanted was a heartfelt apology’

By Katie Strang and Corey Pronman 2h ago

(Editor’s note: One hour after this story was published, Logan Mailloux announced that he was renouncing himself from the 2021 NHL Draft. “The NHL Draft should be one of the most exciting landmark moments of a player’s career, and given the circumstances I don’t feel I have demonstrated strong enough maturity or character to earn that privilege in the 2021 Draft,” Mailloux wrote in a statement.) The woman who was victimized by NHL Draft prospect Logan Mailloux, who had a photo of her performing a sex act taken without her consent and circulated by Mailloux among some teammates, said she hasn’t forgiven Mailloux because she doesn’t believe he has shown remorse for what he did.“I do not think that Logan has understood the seriousness of his behavior,” said the woman in an email.

The incident happened on Nov. 7, 2020, shortly after Mailloux arrived to play for SK Lejon in the northern Swedish town of Skelleftea. In December, he was issued a summary fine, akin to a conviction in Swedish court, for “Kränkande fotografering” (offensive photography constituting an invasion of privacy) and “Förtal” (defamation).

The woman said she asked that Mailloux send her a sincere apology in written form because she did not want to meet with him in person. She said she received “a text that was no longer than three sentences.”

“All I wanted was a heartfelt apology for his behavior,” the woman wrote to The Athletic.

The woman felt that Mailloux’s subsequent attempts to apologize were done at the behest of team officials and the court. SK Lejon’s hockey director, Lars Westermark, has not responded to calls and text messages when asked for comment about how the club handled the situation (Westermark was also, at the time, the chief of area police).

Dylan Liptrap, one of Mailloux’s agents, referred back to Mailloux’s original statement on the matter when asked for comment. In a later text exchange, Liptrap offered to provide context on the situation but stipulated that the information could only be used off the record and couldn’t be shared with anyone. Informed that The Athletic was looking for on-the-record information only, Liptrap wrote ”sounds like the motivation here is very clear.” He added that he wanted to provide off-the-record context before “the angry cancel culture mob gets (Mailloux) in its grasp.”

In a Daily Faceoff report, Mailloux was quoted as telling Swedish police investigators that he believed the woman wanted to “ruin his life.” Multiple sources told The Athletic that in interviews with some NHL teams, Mailloux has portrayed the woman as vindictive.

“Logan says that I want to ruin his career. I have never said that. All I have wanted is to get justice for the actions he has taken against me,” the woman wrote. “If his actions ruin his career, it’s up to him. It’s not my fault.”

The Daily Faceoff report included this from Mailloux: “Personally, this is a huge mistake I’ve made. A stupid, childish mistake … I was selfish. I want the victim and her family to know how sincerely sorry I am and how remorseful I am. I know now how it can affect their family. I regret doing it, but there is nothing I can do about that now. I hope they can forgive me one day.”

The Athletic has identified at least 11 teams that have dropped Mailloux’s name from their draft board despite his considerable talent. Other teams have expressed reservations about selecting the 18-year-old Mailloux despite the fact that he is ranked as the 23rd North American skater by NHL’s Central Scouting Service. TSN’s Bob McKenzie, in his annual pre-draft rankings list based on a survey of 10 NHL scouts, listed him at No. 35.

Some organizations have not ruled out drafting Mailloux. Some front offices have deferred that decision to ownership. According to the Daily Faceoff report, one team said they would consider picking him in “the right spot,” while another was conducting a risk assessment on drafting Mailloux.

The Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights, who own Mailloux’s rights, released the following statement Friday: “The London Knights became aware of a situation involving Logan Mailloux that occurred when he was loaned from the team and playing in Sweden during the pandemic. It is our understanding that the situation has been resolved in Sweden and the player has apologized. Team staff are working with Logan, ensuring that he is accessing the supports that are in place to help him better understand his actions, the ramifications of his actions and ensuring that this does not happen again. The team and the (Ontario Hockey) League will continue to closely monitor the situation.”

Daily Faceoff reported that team owner Mark Hunter “has endorsed Mailloux’s talent and character to NHL teams.”

OHL Commissioner David Branch, when reached via email, responded: “The League is aware of the troubling incident involving Logan Mailloux that occurred when he was on loan and playing in Sweden. In terms of the coming season, we are in touch with the London Knights and we will continue to keep a close eye on the situation.”

Several scouts and front office personnel have related the discussion over whether to draft Mailloux to the deliberations related to Mitchell Miller, a 2020 selection of the Arizona Coyotes. Miller was convicted in juvenile court of bullying and abusing a Black developmentally disabled classmate (including the use of racial slurs). Miller, who was 13 at the time, also forced the classmate to eat a piece of candy that had been in a urinal.

Teams that asked Miller about the incident before the draft felt he did not show the appropriate level of remorse or take responsibility for what he did. Still, the Arizona Coyotes selected Miller 111th overall. That proved to be a catastrophe for the organization and sparked months of internal finger-pointing and external blowback. Arizona renounced Miller’s rights, and the NHLPA and NHL reached an agreement last year to grant Arizona’s request to remove Miller from its reserve list. Miller did not play anywhere last season; he attended camp with one USHL team last month.