Player Discussion Lane Hutson Part 2

[JuJu Mobb]

Did someone really name his kid "Notre Dame"?

Of course, as well as Dartmouth and Colgate.

 

[Jaynki]

His straight ahead speed is quite average but his edges are great and he skates backwards as well as anyone which is certainly not true of Hutson.

He is still a much better all around skater than Lane is and I would be ecstatic to see Hutson reach Fox's level of skating. If he could also grow two inches and add 20+ pounds to reach Fox's size then we can get really excited but as you can see he has a long way to go to reach Fox's level.

The real question for me is do you play Hutson in Laval next season or does he stay in college. If he continues to make very little progress with his skating maybe putting him in a league where he will have no choice but to focus on this part of his development instead of leaving him in a league weak enough to get away with it. I have seen him at least making attempts for the first time to try and incorporate a rudimentary form of defending while backskating but he is still avoiding it way too often.

He is in the NHL next year

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

He is in the NHL next year

Very unlikely unless he takes an enormous step forward in his defensive play and learns how to backskate which he still can barely do. As he is right now he would be the worst defender the NHL has seen in a long time.

Nothing wrong with another year at BU or starting with Laval. He needs time to gain strength, weight and to get his skating to an acceptable level.

 

[Jaynki]

Very unlikely unless he takes an enormous step forward in his defensive play and learns how to backskate which he still can barely do. As he is right now he would be the worst defender the NHL has seen in a long time.

Nothing wrong with another year at BU or starting with Laval. He needs time to gain strength, weight and to get his skating to an acceptable level.

We will see.

I think IQ is high enough and elusiveness is star level.

I understand your concern but he does other thing at an absolutely elite level when he has the puck on his stick. Personally i am not concerned with the backward skating.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

We will see.

I think IQ is high enough and elusiveness is star level.

I understand your concern but he does other thing at an absolutely elite level when he has the puck on his stick. Personally i am not concerned with the backward skating.

His IQ and passing are star level but his elusiveness which is spectacular at times has proven to be less effective at higher levels where players are much stronger and much faster. He is going to get caught with his fakes and shimmies at the opposing blue line and will not have the speed to recover. He will make many great plays as well but the risk/reward ratio will not be good enough for him to play in the NHL. He needs to be strong enough to take contact and he needs more explosiveness in his stride and coming in and out of his edges.

As far as the backskating is concerned he very simply will not play in the NHL unless it greatly improves and I was very disappointed to see how little improvement he made over the summer in this regard. I do absolutely believe that he will put in the work to get there but he has a very long way to go to be ready for next season. If he doesn't improve he will be targeted and embarrassed nightly until he does improve. This might very well be the case in Laval as well but I think everyone involved would prefer that he takes his lumps outside of the big show. It is hard to imagine him not eventually figuring it all out and putting in the work on his backskating , so despite his obvious and well documented flaws there is still reason to be very excited.

IMO he is likely two years minimum from seriously competing for a regular job in Montreal and that is about what I expected when we drafted him. He was a 4-5 year project in my estimation at the time of the draft.

There is little doubt that he is a special talent with a huge competitive streak and I would be foolish to declare it to be impossible for him to play regularly in Montreal next season as he has been proving people wrong his entire life. I would also be foolish to wager significant money on betting that he gets there next season as well. Ultimately I think the fan base is in more of a rush than the organization is and I am content on watching him slowly round out his game.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

He is in the NHL next year

I hope not, I don't want him rushed. I hope they do the same thing they did with Roy and stay patient. AHL next year would be fine. Roy btw is lighting it up there.

 

[Miller Time]

We will see.

I think IQ is high enough and elusiveness is star level.

I understand your concern but he does other thing at an absolutely elite level when he has the puck on his stick. Personally i am not concerned with the backward skating.

Will be interesting to see how he shows at his first pro camp/NHL preseason...

I'd imagine/hope that he only stays in the NHL to start the year if he takes a definitive top 4 spot out of camp... Can't see the logic in him playing bottom pair minutes in his first pro season.

Guhle is a lock.

Matheson, Savard (gotta figure at least 1 vet is back, if not both)

Barron, Xhekaj, Harris

Strubble, Mailloux, Trudeau, Norlinder

He'd have to ourplay 6-7 of those 10 in convincing fashion... And that's ignoring Reinbacher, Engstrom & Konyushkov coming to camp with their own ambitions...


If he does, great! But either way...

Future is bright

 

[JianYang]

I haven't watched a lock of lane Hutson this year..... But his stat line is very peculiar for a Dman.

8 goals 3 assists in 9 games? It's like he's rick nash playing defense. What makes more bizarre is that he had a much more traditional stat line for a Dman last year.

 

[HuGort]

I haven't watched a lock of lane Hutson this year..... But his stat line is very peculiar for a Dman.

8 goals 3 assists in 9 games? It's like he's rick nash playing defense. What makes more bizarre is that he had a much more traditional stat line for a Dman last year.

His IQ and passing are star level but his elusiveness which is spectacular at times has proven to be less effective at higher levels where players are much stronger and much faster. He is going to get caught with his fakes and shimmies at the opposing blue line and will not have the speed to recover. He will make many great plays as well but the risk/reward ratio will not be good enough for him to play in the NHL. He needs to be strong enough to take contact and he needs more explosiveness in his stride and coming in and out of his edges.

As far as the backskating is concerned he very simply will not play in the NHL unless it greatly improves and I was very disappointed to see how little improvement he made over the summer in this regard. I do absolutely believe that he will put in the work to get there but he has a very long way to go to be ready for next season. If he doesn't improve he will be targeted and embarrassed nightly until he does improve. This might very well be the case in Laval as well but I think everyone involved would prefer that he takes his lumps outside of the big show. It is hard to imagine him not eventually figuring it all out and putting in the work on his backskating , so despite his obvious and well documented flaws there is still reason to be very excited.

IMO he is likely two years minimum from seriously competing for a regular job in Montreal and that is about what I expected when we drafted him. He was a 4-5 year project in my estimation at the time of the draft.

There is little doubt that he is a special talent with a huge competitive streak and I would be foolish to declare it to be impossible for him to play regularly in Montreal next season as he has been proving people wrong his entire life. I would also be foolish to wager significant money on betting that he gets there next season as well. Ultimately I think the fan base is in more of a rush than the organization is and I am content on watching him slowly round out his game.

Would they try Hutson at forward? If his backskating is as bad as you say sounds like zero chance being NHL defenseman.

 

[montreal]

I hope not, I don't want him rushed. I hope they do the same thing they did with Roy and stay patient. AHL next year would be fine. Roy btw is lighting it up there.

I haven't heard him say if he wants to turn pro or not at the end of the season, but I wouldn't say he's 100% going to turn pro just yet. If he opts to go back for 1 more year it would give him the chance to play with both his older and younger brother.

For a kid that badly needs to add mass/strength, improve skating/speed, this is something they should be considering since BU in addition to adding Cole Hutson is also getting Cole Eiserman who will be a top 5 pick this summer.

 

[DAChampion]

He is in the NHL next year

There's no spot at this time. Though if even one opens up, Reinbacher, Struble, Mailloux will be competing for it too.

 

[Jaynki]

His IQ and passing are star level but his elusiveness which is spectacular at times has proven to be less effective at higher levels where players are much stronger and much faster. He is going to get caught with his fakes and shimmies at the opposing blue line and will not have the speed to recover. He will make many great plays as well but the risk/reward ratio will not be good enough for him to play in the NHL. He needs to be strong enough to take contact and he needs more explosiveness in his stride and coming in and out of his edges.

As far as the backskating is concerned he very simply will not play in the NHL unless it greatly improves and I was very disappointed to see how little improvement he made over the summer in this regard. I do absolutely believe that he will put in the work to get there but he has a very long way to go to be ready for next season. If he doesn't improve he will be targeted and embarrassed nightly until he does improve. This might very well be the case in Laval as well but I think everyone involved would prefer that he takes his lumps outside of the big show. It is hard to imagine him not eventually figuring it all out and putting in the work on his backskating , so despite his obvious and well documented flaws there is still reason to be very excited.

IMO he is likely two years minimum from seriously competing for a regular job in Montreal and that is about what I expected when we drafted him. He was a 4-5 year project in my estimation at the time of the draft.

There is little doubt that he is a special talent with a huge competitive streak and I would be foolish to declare it to be impossible for him to play regularly in Montreal next season as he has been proving people wrong his entire life. I would also be foolish to wager significant money on betting that he gets there next season as well. Ultimately I think the fan base is in more of a rush than the organization is and I am content on watching him slowly round out his game.

I respect your opinion and at some points, i do share the same concerns. I would simply rather bet on his upside as there is potentially something special here.

There's no spot at this time. Though if even one opens up, Reinbacher, Struble, Mailloux will be competing for it too.

We will see. There is effectively too many men on D but i don't think it is out of the question that Hutson may take the place of some guy already here namely Harris.

I hope not, I don't want him rushed. I hope they do the same thing they did with Roy and stay patient. AHL next year would be fine. Roy btw is lighting it up there.

He will be in his D+3 next year. He is not being rushed.

(If) He is an NHL talent, he does not belong in the AHL.

Would they try Hutson at forward? If his backskating is as bad as you say sounds like zero chance being NHL defenseman.

No.

He is setting NCAA offensive record for defenseman.

You want him on D transiting the puck and running your PP.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

 

[Redux91]

God I hope he *dominates* that tournament lol

 

[red devil]

Boston University is playing right now on TSN5

 

[SlafySZN]

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Lane has an assist so far. BU leading 3-1

 

[Riggins]

I saw Hutson turn it over earlier leading to a prime scoring chance. Now he just pinched way in and caused a 2 on 1 going back and another near goal.

The offense is great but boy oh boy, there's a lot of work to be done. He's such a hard player to project.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

2more assists tonight.

 

[Frank Drebin]

I saw Hutson turn it over earlier leading to a prime scoring chance. Now he just pinched way in and caused a 2 on 1 going back and another near goal.

The offense is great but boy oh boy, there's a lot of work to be done. He's such a hard player to project.

High event player

 

[CHwest]

God I hope he *dominates* that tournament lol

I think it will give us a better idea of where his skating is at. Very fast paced tournament.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I saw Hutson turn it over earlier leading to a prime scoring chance. Now he just pinched way in and caused a 2 on 1 going back and another near goal.

The offense is great but boy oh boy, there's a lot of work to be done. He's such a hard player to project.

When you always have the puck, you’re going to turn it over sometime.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

When you always have the puck, you’re going to turn it over sometime.

Yeah but pinching backskating and gap control has nothing to do with turning the puck over. His defensive issues don't have anything to do with his offensive game. The turnovers aren't as big of a deal as his recoveries from them and just normal 5 on 5 play without the puck

 

[ChesterNimitz]

I think it will give us a better idea of where his skating is at. Very fast paced tournament.

Agreed. But he looked good at the WHC last spring scoring 2 goals and 4 assists in 9 games against professional level players. His skating is already NHL level adequate. The question is, does he have the strength to play an 82 game schedule against the speed, size, skill and strength of the players he will be facing in the NHL? The gap between the level of play in the NHL and any where else, is huge. It's a gap that so many 'surefire,' promising prospects fail to navigate. That's my only concern with respect to this ultra-talented player.

 

[26Mats]

Agreed. But he looked good at the WHC last spring scoring 2 goals and 4 assists in 9 games against professional level players. His skating is already NHL level adequate. The question is, does he have the strength to play an 82 game schedule against the speed, size, skill and strength of the players he will be facing in the NHL? The gap between the level of play in the NHL and any where else, is huge. It's a gap that so many 'surefire,' promising prospects fail to navigate. That's my only concern with respect to this ultra-talented player.

We know that the world juniors aren't necessarily a good indicator of how a 0layer will do at the NHL level. We can look at Suzuki's low numbers versus Drouin and Puljujarvi's high numbers. Though those two may have been affected by injuries down the line.

Now, what about the world championships? How much do they indicate about a player's NHL potential. We've seen Armia do well there... We've also seen Brobov saying Slaf is a historical talent based on what he did at these international tournaments at such a young age. We'll see how that plays out...