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.
Lane Hutson Burgeoning Star Watch
- Thread starter Pavel Buchnevich
- Start date
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
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
Registered User
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....
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....
You clearly don't watch The Habs at all.....
Lafleurs Guy
Guuuuuuuy!
- Jul 20, 2007
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Lafleurs Guy
Guuuuuuuy!
- Jul 20, 2007
- 79,742
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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
Big F$&*in Q
What he already does have is something you can't teach.
The rest of his game you can.
He's 20.
I was at the 9-2 loss at the Bell Centre against the Penguins, and while that 3rd period was an absolute disaster, there were a few shifts in the 1st period where he dominated the Pens at will much like EK used to do to teams in Ottawa.
He probably wouldn't have the same opportunity on other (playoff) teams, but Montreal recognizes that and is getting him some early reps at NHL speed which could accelerate his development.
The rest of his game you can.
He's 20.
I was at the 9-2 loss at the Bell Centre against the Penguins, and while that 3rd period was an absolute disaster, there were a few shifts in the 1st period where he dominated the Pens at will much like EK used to do to teams in Ottawa.
He probably wouldn't have the same opportunity on other (playoff) teams, but Montreal recognizes that and is getting him some early reps at NHL speed which could accelerate his development.
It's a dangerous assumption to say that playing effective NHL defense is something you can just teach anyone to do.
NyQuil
Big F$&*in Q
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.
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Be a Hab
Registered User
- Sep 17, 2010
- 1,378
- 809
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
Big F$&*in Q
Of course it does.
Offensive tools are rarer than defensive tools and more prized.
Otherwise you'd see the top defensive defencemen in the CHL drafted in the early rounds every year.
A colleague's son was playing for the Oshawa Generals and was on the bubble to be drafted after earlier development at a US prep school. Despite his strong defensive play and wearing a letter, he was told in his draft eligible season that he would not be on the top PP and it pretty much sealed his fate as an NHL hockey player.
dgibb10 said:
These are issues in his decision-making, not stemming from any kind of physical defect.
You don't think the mental aspects of the game can be taught?
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Hutsons skating and size are 100% physical attributes that limit his defensive effectiveness.
I think his major defensive issues come from jumping into rushes too often and too early, and getting caught too deep, as I said.
If he stops jumping up or going deep into the ozone however, that takes away from his offense.
"Offensive tools are rarer than defensive tools and more prized.
Otherwise you'd see the top defensive defencemen in the CHL drafted in the early rounds every year."
Using "players of this type are drafted higher therefore they are more valuable" arguments doesn't play in Hutson's favour. Undersized OFD aren't exactly drafted highly either.
NyQuil
Big F$&*in Q
Well that also goes back to the “you can’t teach size” argument.
I don’t really know what we’re arguing about.
He was drafted where he was due to his size but since that time, he’s managed to rise up in terms of his ranking among NHL prospects because he’s managed to stand out despite the lack of size.
He will always need a partner that can help compensate for that deficiency, as I’ve alluded to already.
When it comes to making decisions , personally I find it hard to believe that he can’t improve in his ability to effectively risk manage his own game better.
Anyway, I see that you are pretty active in this thread and I don’t really want to go down a rabbit hole. All I’m simply saying that he’s been impressive in bursts of play where he clowns experienced NHL players at the tender age of 20. You don’t see a lot of rookie defencemen do that regularly.
Obviously the surprise factor will diminish but at the same time, he can’t help but get more comfortable in the league with more experience IMO.
waffledave
waffledave, from hf
Tiny Hutson was winning puck battles against Tage Thompson. I'm convinced 90% of the people making comments in this thread have not watched him play aside from the highlights and random lowlights that Leafs fans like to post on Twitter for some reason.
Hutson likes to think he can predict the play in his own end and half the time he loses his own man chasing another guy who either has the puck or who Huston thinks will have the puck and there's some opposing player standing in front of the net or in the slot alone to get an easy goal and was the guy Hutson should have been covering or boxing out.
That being said defensive play can be fixed. The key would be firing Martin St Louis as soon as possible and hiring someone who actually has a defensive system they can teach Hutson.
waffledave
waffledave, from hf
It's a coaching issue. MSL has them playing man to man coverage in the d zone.
eviohh26
Registered User
HabbyGuy
Registered User
Here's the thing. This isn't Toronto. This is Montreal. Winning is the ONLY thing that matters. And the question is will Hutson ever be able to play 20 minutes a night through 16 Ws in the playoffs? Let's face it. Montreal is a night off for most teams most nights and even at that Sam needs to stand on his head. There's a long way between where Montreal is and the playoffs and an even longer way to winning in the playoffs. Can Hutson be a part in that? No one really knows. But it won't be easy for a 170 pound man which is where he probably tops out
Bouboumaster
Registered User
- Jul 4, 2014
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waffledave
waffledave, from hf
He looks like Datsyuk and frankly he is as good as him.The face of someone living rent free in your head:
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