Lane Hutson Burgeoning Star Watch

[OilerTitanFan]

Habs fan pumping a bust who dangles around and turns it over nonstop. The dangles are good for Instagram highlight reels and nothing more. He can't play in a structured environment. Not a team player. Montreal can keep tanking for more first round picks. Too bad there won't be a mcdavid to save their ass. They're drafting a bunch of yakupovs like slafkovsky and Caufield.

 

[OilerTitanFan]

Jeezus. I'm a neutral here (fan of the former team once known as the Arizona Coyotes) and I'm offended by your post on behalf of other Habs fans.

Hutson is young. There is EVERY chance that in the next 3-5 years he'll figure out how to play D in his own zone (and in the neutral zone as well). If he does that while at least maintaining (most likely developing) his offensive instincts, he's at least a top pairing D and most likely a legitimate #1.

Meanwhile, the Habs won't be competing AT LEAST for the next 3-5 years and maybe more than that. So Hutson has at least the next 3-5 years to improve, he'll have every chance to work on his defensive game because he's already earning a regular shift. If he sorts things out during that time (which imo is rather likely) most likely he'll become a true #1 by the time the Habs are ready to compete.

***

In the meantime, "I just don't see the point of your post" because it seems you're assuming Hutson can't / won't improve from where he is right now, which is a 20 year old defenseman playing hard minutes in the NHL. Which is already quite impressive, most D-men his age aren't even playing in the NHL let alone showing flashes of offensive dominance. The way he's playing so far in his career should be celebrated by hockey fans across the league, not just by Habs fans.

Assuming you're a Habs fan, you need to do better. You have a very good young player in Hutson.

He's playing because there's nobody else to throw out there. Let's not be stupid here. Montreal's team is paper thin. Forwards are all mediocre, no superstar talent like Crosby or malkin. The D is nowhere close to Lindstrom and letang level. Add all that up and you'll see 5 more years of rebuild

 

[Kennedys]

Habs fan pumping a bust who dangles around and turns it over nonstop. The dangles are good for Instagram highlight reels and nothing more. He can't play in a structured environment. Not a team player. Montreal can keep tanking for more first round picks. Too bad there won't be a mcdavid to save their ass. They're drafting a bunch of yakupovs like slafkovsky and Caufield.

I'm a Habs fan watching all the Habs games and i can't remember Hutson "turns it over nonstop". But as an Oilers fan you probably know more than me so there's that.

 

[General Fanager]

Top 15 in points for Dmen
By far most points by rookie Dmen
Tied for 2nd in Rookie points overall
He is 20 and getting used to the NHL. If they can teach him to be even average defensively he will be a monster.


Guys in here are really saying he sucks??? A lot of teams made a massive mistake not taking this guy....

Habs fan pumping a bust who dangles around and turns it over nonstop. The dangles are good for Instagram highlight reels and nothing more. He can't play in a structured environment. Not a team player. Montreal can keep tanking for more first round picks. Too bad there won't be a mcdavid to save their ass. They're drafting a bunch of yakupovs like slafkovsky and Caufield.

You clearly don't watch The Habs at all.....

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Habs fan pumping a bust who dangles around and turns it over nonstop. The dangles are good for Instagram highlight reels and nothing more. He can't play in a structured environment. Not a team player. Montreal can keep tanking for more first round picks. Too bad there won't be a mcdavid to save their ass. They're drafting a bunch of yakupovs like slafkovsky and Caufield.

See folks,

That’s the way you do it.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Top 15 in points for Dmen
By far most points by rookie Dmen
Tied for 2nd in Rookie points overall
He is 20 and getting used to the NHL. If they can teach him to be even average defensively he will be a monster.

His D is better than I expected. He’s not bad at all. You just need to accept the limitations. He’s never going to be great at clearing the crease. He’s going to have a size disadvantage… no amount of training will fix that. But that doesn’t make him a liability. He’s still pretty good without the puck.

What you will see is the same thing you’ll see with any puck carrying blueliner, there will be some giveaways/mistakes with the puck. It happens more with these kinds of guys because they have the puck so often.

 

[Bileur]

See folks,

That’s the way you do it.

Guns a blazing

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

His D is better than I expected. He’s not bad at all. You just need to accept the limitations. He’s never going to be great at clearing the crease. He’s going to have a size disadvantage… no amount of training will fix that. But that doesn’t make him a liability. He’s still pretty good without the puck.

What you will see is the same thing you’ll see with any puck carrying blueliner, there will be some giveaways/mistakes with the puck. It happens more with these kinds of guys because they have the puck so often.

I agree with a lot of this. I'd characterize him as below average defensively overall, but he's not some massive liability like some would have you believe. The biggest opportunity for improvement is puck management around the blue lines, and continuing to improve his transition skating. He takes some unnecessary risks, but he's a rookie, it's to be expected.

There's no reason he can't become a passable defensive player.

 

[NyQuil]

What he already does have is something you can't teach.

The rest of his game you can.

He's 20.

I was at the 9-2 loss at the Bell Centre against the Penguins, and while that 3rd period was an absolute disaster, there were a few shifts in the 1st period where he dominated the Pens at will much like EK used to do to teams in Ottawa.

He probably wouldn't have the same opportunity on other (playoff) teams, but Montreal recognizes that and is getting him some early reps at NHL speed which could accelerate his development.

 

[dgibb10]

What he already does have is something you can't teach.

The rest of his game you can.

He's 20.

I was at the 9-2 loss at the Bell Centre against the Penguins, and while that 3rd period was an absolute disaster, there were a few shifts in the 1st period where he dominated the Pens at will much like EK used to do to teams in Ottawa.

He probably wouldn't have the same opportunity on other (playoff) teams, but Montreal recognizes that and is getting him some early reps at NHL speed which could accelerate his development.

It's a dangerous assumption to say that playing effective NHL defense is something you can just teach anyone to do.

 

[NyQuil]

It's a dangerous assumption to say that playing effective NHL defense is something you can just teach anyone to do.

True, but it's easier than teaching elite offensive zone play.

I think of guys like Sergei Gonchar who were much maligned for their defensive abilities early on, but by the time he played with Ottawa, he was our most reliable guy in all three zones while Karlsson was out for the season.

You don't usually see effective NHL defensive defencemen suddenly develop an offensive skill set years into their careers.

I suspect his range will be from a middle pair PP specialist if he doesn't figure it out, to a top pairing guy with a bigger defensive partner to account for some of the more physical work.

I'd be pretty surprised if he ended up as a 2nd PP 3rd pairing guy at this point but anything is possible of course.

 

[Be a Hab]

Habs fan pumping a bust who dangles around and turns it over nonstop. The dangles are good for Instagram highlight reels and nothing more. He can't play in a structured environment. Not a team player. Montreal can keep tanking for more first round picks. Too bad there won't be a mcdavid to save their ass. They're drafting a bunch of yakupovs like slafkovsky and Caufield.

Bouchard looked good on Boqvist breakaway goal

 

[dgibb10]

True, but it's easier than teaching elite offensive zone play.

Is that saying anything tho?

"It's easier to be average at something than elite at something". No shit. It's also easier to be average offensively than elite defensively

You need to have tools to do things offensively.
You need to have tools to do things defensively.

Neither of these tools can be simply be "taught".

And in terms of stylistically regarding Hutson.

A lot of his defensive issues stem with him being a tad overeager to join the rush, getting caught too deep etc.

These aren't things you can simply take out of his game without sacrificing some offense.

Now, the question is, can you mitigate the defensive issues without hindering him too much offensively. Where can you find the fluff and strip it. The plays he makes that don't lead to as much offense, but leave big risks defensively.

Or even, can he improve even more offensively to the point where he doesn't NEED to cheat up as much to generate what he currently does, or to the point where it doesn't matter (a la Dougie Hamilton where he consistently generates such a ridiculous amount of offense that he can give up a lot defensively and still be significantly outchancing his opponents when he's out there).

All possibilities, but it's not as simple as just "teach defense" any more than you could simply "teach offense" to a high tier defensive player

 

[NyQuil]

Is that saying anything tho?

Of course it does.

Offensive tools are rarer than defensive tools and more prized.

Otherwise you'd see the top defensive defencemen in the CHL drafted in the early rounds every year.

A colleague's son was playing for the Oshawa Generals and was on the bubble to be drafted after earlier development at a US prep school. Despite his strong defensive play and wearing a letter, he was told in his draft eligible season that he would not be on the top PP and it pretty much sealed his fate as an NHL hockey player.

A lot of his defensive issues stem with him being a tad overeager to join the rush, getting caught too deep etc.

These are issues in his decision-making, not stemming from any kind of physical defect.

You don't think the mental aspects of the game can be taught?

 

[dgibb10]

Of course it does.

Offensive tools are rarer than defensive tools and more prized.

Otherwise you'd see the top defensive defencemen in the CHL drafted in the early rounds every year.

A colleague's son was playing for the Oshawa Generals and was on the bubble to be drafted after earlier development at a US prep school. Despite his strong defensive play and wearing a letter, he was told in his draft eligible season that he would not be on the top PP and it pretty much sealed his fate as an NHL hockey player.



These are issues in his decision-making, "not stemming from any kind of physical defect".

You don't think the mental aspects of the game can be taught?

Hutsons skating and size are 100% physical attributes that limit his defensive effectiveness.

I think his major defensive issues come from jumping into rushes too often and too early, and getting caught too deep, as I said.

If he stops jumping up or going deep into the ozone however, that takes away from his offense.


"Offensive tools are rarer than defensive tools and more prized.

Otherwise you'd see the top defensive defencemen in the CHL drafted in the early rounds every year."

Using "players of this type are drafted higher therefore they are more valuable" arguments doesn't play in Hutson's favour. Undersized OFD aren't exactly drafted highly either.