HF Habs: Blueline Prospects/Young Players - Who to Keep Who to Trade

[Habs Halifax]

I agree with you and have never said so. Just pointing out that that other poster is technically correct in an aspect of his skating. I don't think it matters that much but it's still there regardless of what you and I think. Again I did say his edge work was godly which more than compensates for the lack of elite straight line speed IMO

I know what you are saying but the narrative was "Achilles Heel". That indicates vulnerability or weakness. Skating is not an area of weakness. It was exaggeration with a "LOL" narrative. Went overboard in a nit pick reply.

His physical strength and shot from the point would be his Achilles Heel. Not his skating. His edge work is very good. Skating in straight line speed is decent. Could improve but certainly not a weakness IMO.

 

[Trabdy2]

1. Reinbacher
2. Guhle
3. Engstrom
4. Hutson
5. Mailloux

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

I know what you are saying but the narrative was "Achilles Heel". That indicates vulnerability or weakness. Skating is not an area of weakness. It was exaggeration with a "LOL" narrative. Went overboard in a nit pick reply.

His physical strength and shot from the point would be his Achilles Heel. Not his skating. His edge work is very good. Skating in straight line speed is decent. Could improve but certainly not a weakness IMO.

Yes it's probably around NHL average but I view Hutson as a future star so he does have to improve it even if it's not worrying. Also you're under selling his edge work. It's better than "very good". I think the two weaknesses that you pointed out come down to him maturing in his body and hitting the gym more than anything. Dude looks like me in grade 10 before I started working out regularly lol

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Reinbacher and Guhle are easily at the top of this list right now and time will tell which one proves to be better.

Hutson is by a longshot the smallest and worst skater of the group as his straight ahead speed is lacking and his backwards skating would be the worst among NHL dmen by an order of magnitude. Hutson is also the most offensively gifted by a wide margin and his flaws, as obvious and limiting as they are can be improved upon and even entirely fixed in some cases. He will never be a dman who can play against the oppositions top line therefore is eliminated from the discussion of being a top pairing dman. He will be able to compensate for his shortcomings by potentially becoming an elite PP quarterback and is still an extremely exciting prospect despite his limitations.

Mailloux is the toughest one to read because he has all of the tools to be in the top tier with Guhle and Reinbacher and maybe even be the best of the bunch but his tool box is still a major question at the pro level and leaves him with the greatest bust potential in this group.

 

[Scriptor]

I agree with you and have never said so. Just pointing out that that other poster is technically correct in an aspect of his skating. I don't think it matters that much but it's still there regardless of what you and I think. Again I did say his edge work was godly which more than compensates for the lack of elite straight line speed IMO

It only hurts if he hasn't anticipated turnovers and needs to keep up with an opponent on the fly. Ideally, due t lack of size, he would be first on the puck during dum ins as, once in possession of the puck, his transition game is good, either carrying the puck out of the zone or making a solid first pass.

Worst case scenario, Hutson is not a top-4 D at even strength, other than getting O-zone starts on occasion and playing on a shielded third pairing on his off side, along with Xhekaj, who will bring size to protect our net in our zone, or to dig pucks out, along with back-checking forwards.

He'd become a PP specialist and a situational player, which might not be the worst thing, either, with a top-four ahead of him comprised of Guhle-Reinbacher as a genuine shutdown first pairing with offensive upside and Engstrom - Mailloux, with Engstrom both being able to support Mailloux's offensive game and insulate that pairing, defensively.

Guhle - Reinbacher
Engstrom - mailloux
Xhekaj/Hutson - Hutson/Xhekaj

Harris/Barron (I'd stick with Barron, the righty with more offensive upside than Harris and, although he doesn't use it much, better size).

 

[Non Player Canadiens]

None of these debates will matter if we can’t keep them healthy. Seriously my friends.

this might be thing i'm most curious about next season. can we shake the injury curse finally? especially with the changing of the guard of the medical staff?

 

[Trabdy2]

At the moment I don't have a projection of Hutson in a Top-4 role at the NHL level. I'll have to see significant improvements in his skating and defensive game before I see him there.

I see him more as a PP specialist/OZ faceoff exploitation role and am hoping he can develop his defensive game well enough to hold his own for a dozen even strength minutes against bottom 9 forward competition.

 

[Mrb1p]

Im also not sure why Engstrom isnt included. IMO he has as good a shot as Hutson as being the best of this group and a much better one than Mailloux.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Im also not sure why Engstrom isnt included. IMO he has as good a shot as Hutson as being the best of this group and a much better one than Mailloux.

He's not unknown to many on our boards but he is unknown to a lot of Habs fans when I chit chat with them on the streets. haha.

Engstrom is right up there with Mailloux, Barron, Harris, and Xhekaj. How much better can he be? Not sure and your guess is as good as mine.

What I do like a lot about Engstrom is he is built from the back end out like Ramanov and Guhle were. Trusted guys that their coach leans on heavy with big minutes.

At the moment I don't have a projection of Hutson in a Top-4 role at the NHL level. I'll have to see significant improvements in his skating and defensive game before I see him there.

I see him more as a PP specialist/OZ faceoff exploitation role and am hoping he can develop his defensive game well enough to hold his own for a dozen even strength minutes against bottom 9 forward competition.

Today, I would have no problem with Hutson on the 3rd pairing (sheltered role 5/5) but plays on both PP units. If he performs better at 5/5, then maybe he can play one of the top 2 pairings. If not, bottom pairing with lots of PP time does work.

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

Im also not sure why Engstrom isnt included. IMO he has as good a shot as Hutson as being the best of this group and a much better one than Mailloux.

This thread was inspired by Grant Mccaggs tweet of this top 3 D and I thought I'd add in Guhle

 

[BaseballCoach]

You're both right. Hutsons edge work is godly. But his straight line speed needs work. So yes he's a great skater just not a speed demon

And his backward skating is PeeWee BB level.

 

[Wateredgarden]

For me it's

Ghule
Reinbacher
Baron
Hutson
Mailloux
Xhekaj

I ranked them by overall game, cieling and bust potential. I might even have Xhekaj ahead of Mailloux as I see him being a trigger man from the blue line on the second wave, his shot always hit the net and is very sneaky.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Skating is not a weakness for Hutson. We can try to nit pick that part but it's going overboard. His weakness is physical strength and his shot from the point.

Hutson doesn't need straight line speed in terms of taking it from one end to the other without passing the puck. He's shifts his weight with his edge work and that's how he creates that critical time and space.

Attacking his skating with a "LOL" narrative is ridiculous.

We're talking about a defenceman here, not a forward or a PP-only guy. The weak shot will impact point totals, but hopefully not too much. The low strength can be somewhat compensated by smarts.

But if you can't skate backwards, good luck trying to be an NHL defenceman.

 

[Habs Halifax]

We're talking about a defenceman here, not a forward or a PP-only guy. The weak shot will impact point totals, but hopefully not too much. The low strength can be somewhat compensated by smarts.

But if you can't skate backwards, good luck trying to be an NHL defenceman.

It's a miniscule side debate from the overall context you replied to on several players. Sorry, I don't consider his skating a potential weakness.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

It's a miniscule side debate from the overall context you replied to on several players. Sorry, I don't consider his skating a potential weakness.

He quite literally can not play in the NHL as a dman at his current skating level. He was embarrassed at the worlds multiple times while defending and it happened at the WJC's as well. When NHL forwards know that a defender can not pivot and defend while using back crossovers he will be targeted and humiliated. This topic upsets his sycophants who I have mostly blocked but I am confident that he will address the issue as he has already said that he is concentrating on his "defensive skating" this off season. He is a savage competitor so I believe he will fix it but I won't give him credit for doing so until it is done.

I agree that despite not being the fastest straight ahead skater his skating other than backskating will be sufficient due to his edges and anticipation especially when he puts some meat on his tiny chicken legs.

 

[WeThreeKings]

He quite literally can not play in the NHL as a dman at his current skating level. He was embarrassed at the worlds multiple times while defending and it happened at the WJC's as well. When NHL forwards know that a defender can not pivot and defend while using back crossovers he will be targeted and humiliated. This topic upsets his sycophants who I have mostly blocked but I am confident that he will address the issue as he has already said that he is concentrating on his "defensive skating" this off season. He is a savage competitor so I believe he will fix it but I won't give him credit for doing so until it is done.

I agree that despite not being the fastest straight ahead skater his skating other than backskating will be sufficient due to his edges and anticipation especially when he puts some meat on his tiny chicken legs.

It did look better at the worlds than earlier in the year. Not great, or where it needs to be, just better.

A lot of the other skating stuff is as you said likely a product of just being so skinny and not developed physically in the lower body.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

It did look better at the worlds than earlier in the year. Not great, or where it needs to be, just better.

A lot of the other skating stuff is as you said likely a product of just being so skinny and not developed physically in the lower body.

I would say he showed zero progress at the Worlds with his back skating as he was infamously embarrassed for the world to see in OT against Germany and this is not the first time that his complete inability and often outright refusal to defend while doing back crossovers was exposed.

I do agree that his straight ahead speed showed some improvement at that tournament and as you said this is likely due to adding some strength which should continue to improve.

The OT goal against Germany will be a positive in the end because he now knows that there is nowhere to hide this huge hole in his game at the pro level and will only encourage him to direct more of his focus to improving this facet of his game.

 

[Miller Time]

In 5 years time, how do you think these 4 D will be ranked amongst eachother in terms of who's the better nhler?

1. Guhle
2. Mailloux
3. Hutson
4. Reinbacher

Guhle/Reinbacher/Hutson/Mailloux

But if all 4 get close to their ceiling, we'll be swimming in elite talent on the backend!

 

[Habs Halifax]

He quite literally can not play in the NHL as a dman at his current skating level. He was embarrassed at the worlds multiple times while defending and it happened at the WJC's as well. When NHL forwards know that a defender can not pivot and defend while using back crossovers he will be targeted and humiliated. This topic upsets his sycophants who I have mostly blocked but I am confident that he will address the issue as he has already said that he is concentrating on his "defensive skating" this off season. He is a savage competitor so I believe he will fix it but I won't give him credit for doing so until it is done.

I agree that despite not being the fastest straight ahead skater his skating other than backskating will be sufficient due to his edges and anticipation especially when he puts some meat on his tiny chicken legs.

Call him a bust then. Because he is not improving his skating that much from where he is now. Modest gains are reachable yes but you make it sound like he needs huge improvement. I don't buy it and it smells like exaggeration to me.

He was embarrassed at both the WJC and WC's? You sure embarrassed is the right word of choice?

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

In order of what we should hope it is in order for us to be great

Hutson
Reinbacher
Guhle
Mailloux

In order of current market value

Reinbacher
Guhle
Hutson
Mailloux

I still don't think Mailloux ever plays a game with the Habs

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Call him a bust then. Because he is not improving his skating that much from where he is now. Modest gains are reachable yes but you make it sound like he needs huge improvement. I don't buy it and it smells like exaggeration to me.

He was embarrassed at both the WJC and WC's? You sure embarrassed is the right word of choice?

His backwards skating is worse than any dman I have ever seen at the NHL level and it isn't close, that is not exaggeration....that is just the truth. This is not new information as he himself admitted that he needs to work on it. He can surpass just making modest gains because he simply has chosen not to work on it for his entire career and now he will have to put in the work. I believe that this stems from his ferocious competitive drive that would not allow him to take a step back as a kid to learn how to defend this way and was able to get away with an incredibly flawed technique against lesser competition. He has extremely skinny legs and no butt which would have made him a weak skater as a kid and both quads and butt are essential to completing back crossovers and being able to drive through them as you are basically doing them from a "wall sit" position.

I think he is an exciting prospect and will need to make huge improvements to this aspect of his game. I suspect he will be fine so no need to put words like "bust" in my mouth as I have never said that about him at least not as a likely destination for his development.

Go back and watch the O.T. goal against Germany and tell me that is not an embarrassing attempt to defend. He absolutely never defends from a back crossover pattern for more than a stride or two because he is doing it wrong and can not generate any backwards drive. His attempted back crossovers are more of a stationary dance with very little utility. I laid out this exact scenario that played out long before it happened and in the NHL they will attack him mercilessly unless/until he figures it out.

Anyways.....I really love the transitional and offensive sides of his game and would never bet against this kid so no need to be offended by my position.

 

[Habs Halifax]

His backwards skating is worse than any dman I have ever seen at the NHL level and it isn't close, that is not exaggeration....that is just the truth. This is not new information as he himself admitted that he needs to work on it. He can surpass just making modest games because he simply has chosen not to work on it for his entire career and now he will have to put in the work. I believe that this stems from his ferocious competitive drive that would not allow him to take a step back as a kid to learn how to defend this way and was able to get away with an incredibly flawed technique against lesser competition. He has extremely skinny legs and no butt which would have made him a weak skater as a kid and both quads and butt are essential to completing back crossovers and being able to drive through them as you are basically doing them from a "wall sit" position.

I think he is an exciting prospect and will need to make huge improvements to this aspect of his game. I suspect he will be fine so no need to put words like "bust" in my mouth as I have never said that about him at least not as a likely destination for his development.

Go back and watch the O.T. goal against Germany and tell me that is not an embarrassing attempt to defend. He absolutely never defends from a back crossover pattern for more than a stride or two because he is doing it wrong and can not generate any backwards drive. His attempted back crossovers are more of a stationary dance with very little utility. I laid out this exact scenario that played out long before it happened and in the NHL they will attack him mercilessly unless/until he figures it out.

Anyways.....I really love the transitional and offensive sides of his game and would never bet against this kid so no need to be offended by my position.

If all this is true, he shouldn't be ranked as high as he is on our prospect list.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

In order of what we should hope it is in order for us to be great

Hutson
Reinbacher
Guhle
Mailloux

In order of current market value

Reinbacher
Guhle
Hutson
Mailloux

I still don't think Mailloux ever plays a game with the Habs

If Lane Hutson is your #1D you have serious problems unless of course he experiences a massive growth spurt....

I see close to zero chance that he plays above Guhle or Reinbacher in 5 vs 5 or shorthanded scenarios. I can't wait to have him on the PP and on the ice against opponents bottom lines in a couple of years but typical 1st pairing duties are almost certainly not a part of his future and that is ok because he has the talent to be a difference maker with the proper usage.

I think he is more likely to play down in the lineup unless we are in desperation mode late in games or are chasing a large deficit.

 

[BaseballCoach]

If all this is true, he shouldn't be ranked as high as he is on our prospect list.

It is true, and he is ranked high because he got a lot of points in the NCAA.

 

[nhlfan9191]

His backwards skating is worse than any dman I have ever seen at the NHL level and it isn't close, that is not exaggeration....that is just the truth. This is not new information as he himself admitted that he needs to work on it. He can surpass just making modest games because he simply has chosen not to work on it for his entire career and now he will have to put in the work. I believe that this stems from his ferocious competitive drive that would not allow him to take a step back as a kid to learn how to defend this way and was able to get away with an incredibly flawed technique against lesser competition. He has extremely skinny legs and no butt which would have made him a weak skater as a kid and both quads and butt are essential to completing back crossovers and being able to drive through them as you are basically doing them from a "wall sit" position.

I think he is an exciting prospect and will need to make huge improvements to this aspect of his game. I suspect he will be fine so no need to put words like "bust" in my mouth as I have never said that about him at least not as a likely destination for his development.

Go back and watch the O.T. goal against Germany and tell me that is not an embarrassing attempt to defend. He absolutely never defends from a back crossover pattern for more than a stride or two because he is doing it wrong and can not generate any backwards drive. His attempted back crossovers are more of a stationary dance with very little utility. I laid out this exact scenario that played out long before it happened and in the NHL they will attack him mercilessly unless/until he figures it out.

Anyways.....I really love the transitional and offensive sides of his game and would never bet against this kid so no need to be offended by my position.

His judgement of distance and gap control are really impressive. The fact he plays the right side and is a RHS is just a plus: I feel like you’re over analyzing here on a lot of things. Especially on what you see from his body build. Respectfully. He’s a teenager.