Player Discussion Lane Hutson Part 2

HabzSauce

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Jun 10, 2022
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I really like all of our LHD's so it will be tough to lose any of them.

I think trading Struble will come back to bite us as he has elite shut down potential while also having some intriguing PMD skills and has playoff warrior written all over him.

From a building strategy perspective we really need to get our young RHD's some NHL ice time as well as only Barron has any NHL experience (Mailloux's one game aside). Even after moving Savard, Reinbacher and Mailloux will immediately block any thoughts of trying LHD's to the right side.

It is going to be difficult to get the value that Struble deserves in a trade without him having the opportunity to showcase his play. If he does earn the playing time it will mean that we either have injury issues or that Xhekaj and/or Hutson are struggling which is far fromn ideal as you don't want to trade them either especially with diminished value if they struggle. It becomes enticing to consider trading Matheson as he is older but I really like his game and leadership and I have a difficult time seeing Hughes wanting to do that.

I could see Struble straight up beating out Xhekaj and Hutson in pre-season and making HuGo's decision really tough. I think most people will default to the idea of sending Struble down and that may happen but he will make that decision extremely difficult imo.
Matheson
Hutson
Guhle

Xhekaj
Struble
Engstrom

Lol 6 LDs. Bold are keepers, and then the remaining 4 have to fight it out for last spot. Pain we can't keep em all but great problem to have tho

I like Matheson a lot too but out of all of them, he's clear odd man out here. He would fetch a solid return if we traded him. It would be foolish to extend him at 32 over the young guys we got especially with Huston
 

Rapala

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Mar 29, 2013
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If you are correct that Matheson can keep up his elite skating abilities 'for many years' to come then it would be foolish to trade him. And Hughes is anything but foolish.

As I have often posted, you trade away elite skating at your franchise's peril.

I would respectfully suggest that anyone who believes Hughes and MSL will be trading Matheson, a player who has elite skating ability, plays 25 to 28 minutes each game in all game situations, provides 60+ points production, is a team leader and is local boy who wants to play in the fish bowl that is Montreal, at any time while still playing for a contract that pays him less than $5m per year, is missing the thread.
No one is going to dispute Matheson's skating which should age well.
I truly believe Matheson's ultimate fate will depend his ability to keep pucks out of his own net.
His very best "Team" games last season had his pairing playing a shutdown role period.
These were the games most fans felt were the team's very best all season long.
I get the impression we are surely going expect a good number more of those types of games going forward.
Put it this way if we seriously want to compete in this league we will have to.
The same will apply to our top line(s).
 
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Kudo Shinichi

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Apr 20, 2012
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Non habs fans who only saw Hutson at the world juniors and haven't watched his college plays will be in for a surprise when they'll see him play in the nhl.

Hutson didn't really look dynamic at the world juniors because he really focused on defending and shutting down the opponents. However, in reality, he's extremely dynamic and skilled, and people will discover that very soon at the nhl level.
 

bsl

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Oct 9, 2009
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Do you think someone 66 is as good as he was when he was 30-40? I'm close to 50 and i can already tell you no he is not.
lol some of the greatest thinking. Architecture. Teaching has been done in the sixties. Your post was ageist and it is a serious problem in our society.
 

bsl

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Oct 9, 2009
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He's got a lot to prove as a smaller D man and I have confidence he is up for the challenge. His hockey IQ is top notch and his skating/puck handeling is very elusive or deceptive. Once he knows he has a step on a defender, it's go time and not many will catch him without drawing a penalty.

Two areas that might hold him back but not something to dwell on too much this early. His lack of size for a D man (board play and in front of the net) and also his shot. His shot could use lots of improvement.

Aside from his shot and lack of size... the rest is all elite level. Lots of people talking about Hutson outside of Habs land and that should indicate something. Many will be paying attention to his 1st pro season.
He must work on his skating. Hard. I think he is aware of this.
 
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bsl

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Agreed. I think he's not immune to the D challenges side of things. Fans typically evaluate by looking at offense and dam, he's pretty good at that part. However, his position is defense and make no mistake, the other teams coaches are going to target him. Especially with last change for Habs road games.

I just don't see him being a force in his own end. In breakouts yes but in terms of neutralizing players along the boards and in front of the net, he has a massive challenge and that may never go away.

Very excited to see what he can do but also humbled and understand that this will be a process just like anybody else. He's not Makar. He's a mini Makar.
Maker goes into his corner and skates it out fast. Hutson has to learn to do the same.
 

bsl

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Oct 9, 2009
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Indeed... And being very intentional about the type of environment they are currating for the players, one focused on individual & team excellence, is yet another aspect this management group is getting right.

Future is bright 😎
If I coached Hutson I’d get an assistant coach to dump pucks into his corner and tell him to get there and get it out. Fast. Half hour a day.
 

ChesterNimitz

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I mean, the route was perfect but the reception was pretty easy. The sauce dish reminded me of the one Karlsson did a while back, absolutely perfect.
I loved the combination of receiving and controlling the puck in full flight and the subtle dragging of the back skate to stay on side. There was a lot of skill displayed at both ends of that play. The average player would have gone offside while concentrating on locating the puck and receiving same or had the puck bounce off his stick like a rubber ball.
 
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VirginiaMtlExpat

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Aug 20, 2003
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You do understand that you will be old too? Sooner than you can imagine.
I guess this is a response to someone I blocked. Feel vindicated.

I loved the combination of receiving and controlling the puck in full flight and the subtle dragging of the back skate to stay on side. There was a lot of skill displayed at both ends of that play. The average player would have gone offside while concentrating on locating the puck and receiving same or had the puck bounce off his stick like a rubber ball.
Also, it looked like Hutson put sidespin on it, counterclockwise, and the forward saw that and let it hook leftward to him. I suspect that Hutson practices those spins. I don't know if he can spin it clockwise as well.
 

BLONG7

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I loved the combination of receiving and controlling the puck in full flight and the subtle dragging of the back skate to stay on side. There was a lot of skill displayed at both ends of that play. The average player would have gone offside while concentrating on locating the puck and receiving same or had the puck bounce off his stick like a rubber ball.
We haven't seen up ice passes like that, or similar since Markov was sent packing.......in his day he hit guys with great passes coming out of our end, on almost a nightly basis...
 

ChesterNimitz

governed by the principle of calculated risk
Jul 4, 2002
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We haven't seen up ice passes like that, or similar since Markov was sent packing.......in his day he hit guys with great passes coming out of our end, on almost a nightly basis...
Subban was good and Mailloux will be better than Subban. Good times to be a Canadiens fan. I’m posting this from Cleveland at half time of the Giants / Browns game. Came here with a car load of Leafs fans. Trust me they can read the tea leaves. The Canadiens are coming and coming fast. Its good to see the Leafs fans fret.
 

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