Prospect Info: Lane Hutson Part 2

[Naslundforever]

Barron has nothing to do with what happens to Lane Hutson.

Will you be saying the same thing if managing Hutson the right way means he starts in Laval with Reinbacher?
Some people are pencilling in Lane Hutson as a top four defender out of the gate.
That means he has to beat out and play better over all defense than all three of Xhekaj Struble and Harris who all have a leg up on him.
He also has to do it in the first season we have indicated we want to start competing in earnest in this rebuild.

If Hutson makes the team I'm fairly certain the plan will be to exploit his strengths without exposing his weaknesses.
I know some here don't think he has any but they are flat out wrong and he also needs seasoning.
Hutson will either be sheltered or he will play in Laval.
We just can't afford to have two plus minus liabilities in our top four.

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Harris might be the only one with a “leg up” as a mid-talented jack of all trades in the very short term imo, if even that. Hutson is at worst Hab new pp qb and the only thing that has him behind those guys (as regulars) and Matheson (on pp1) is old-school veteran respect or the hopes they have trade value soon.

Also outside Savard every D for the last few years is a complete liability so no different here.

Agreed he could/should be lhd3 and pp1 to start though.

 

[Naslundforever]

I believe his defensive game is unconventional but also extremely underrated.

He is undersized and can get overpowered, its true.

On the other end, he is extremely efficient at breaking plays, cutting lane, puck retrieving and transition.

Too much focus is on the former and not enough on the latter.

NHL coaches may target him as much as they want. I think Hutson on the ice is a problem for the opposition and not the team icing him. It is what he displayed so far in his careee, constantly, at every level of competition.

Agreed. And teams actually having a single hab player to focus beyond Suzuki would be god-sent.

 

[Habs10Habs]

In my lifetime watching the Habs, don’t recall a single player even being in discussion for rookie of the year (Calder) balloting … iirc Dryden was last Hab to win 52-years ago

Hutson & Demigod likely to be in the running, future bringing some excitement…

Kjell Dahlin says "WTF MAN!" lol

Almost forty years though, so yeah, it's been awhile.

 

[Adriatic]

A true evaluation on a D man is looking at both offensive and defensive ability. He will need to adjust to playing against men and D coverage. NHL coaches are going to target him in the D zone bud.

We should not be developing like the Leafs... Just let them run wild producing offense and don't worry about defense. That's not going to turn the player into an effective playoff performer which is the most important thing.

Offensive Ability: Top Notch. Only thing you can nit pick is his shot from the point.

Defensive Ability. Undetermined at the AHL/NHL level. This is usually a process with up/down rollercoaster. Especially for the smaller type D.

Apart from being undersized I don't think he will have defensive issues, he's much too smart.

 

[JoelWarlord]

Lane Hutson is slower than average. Moreover, his shoulder fakes won't always work against top defenders.

To top it off, he has a popgun of a shot. Without being a threat to shoot like Matheson for example, PK defences can look for his passes and if they pick one off, he's done.

Hutson will be our PP1 QB by January, I think this is going to age poorly. His shot is fine for what kind of player he is, Mailloux is the guy who's gonna have the bomb from the point.

I don't mean to get worked up about something that hasn't happened yet, but I do feel like they've set themselves up for an delicate scenario if any of Reinbacher, Hutson or Mailloux really impress at camp/preseason.

I think it should be manageable. Reinbacher they have an obvious reason to send him to the AHL as he's only played a handful of games in North America, and Struble is waiver exempt so he can go down if necessary. If Mailloux is too good to send down I think they'll just run 8D over the short term and rotate Harris and Barron in on the third pair while working on a trade.

We should not be developing like the Leafs... Just let them run wild producing offense and don't worry about defense. That's not going to turn the player into an effective playoff performer which is the most important thing.

Who said anything about not worrying about defence? I don't know why you keep saying this as if anyone on this board thinks Hutson is going to be some defensive stalwart from day one or has nothing to learn defensively (or that you can't learn defence in the NHL).

AHL time wouldn't inherently be bad for him either but playing in the AHL against plugs is just going to make it easier for a player like Hutson to go Harlem Globetrotters mode. The NHL is faster but Hutson will be small his entire career and he isn't a raw player who has big issues with positional play like Xhekaj and Mailloux did, nor did he miss as much playing time as Mailloux. He's well positioned to learn to defend in the NHL because the other elements of his game are good enough that he can provide value while working on those flaws.

 

[Fatbiggie]

Kjell Dahlin says "WTF MAN!" lol

Almost forty years though, so yeah, it's been awhile.

Great example. Pretty sure Ryder was in contention also his rookie year.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

In my lifetime watching the Habs, don’t recall a single player even being in discussion for rookie of the year (Calder) balloting … iirc Dryden was last Hab to win 52-years ago

Hutson & Demigod likely to be in the running, future bringing some excitement…

Slafkovsky, Galchenyuk, and Caufield were all seen as having a legitimate chance at winning the calder before the season started.

Also, Gallagher finished 2nd in calder trophy voting in his rookie year.

 

[LaP]

A true evaluation on a D man is looking at both offensive and defensive ability. He will need to adjust to playing against men and D coverage. NHL coaches are going to target him in the D zone bud.

We should not be developing like the Leafs... Just let them run wild producing offense and don't worry about defense. That's not going to turn the player into an effective playoff performer which is the most important thing.

Offensive Ability: Top Notch. Only thing you can nit pick is his shot from the point.

Defensive Ability. Undetermined at the AHL/NHL level. This is usually a process with up/down rollercoaster. Especially for the smaller type D.

Leafs main problem is they don't have depth. They have 4 good forwards and a good offensive dman and that's it. The rest of the team is lottery bond and would draft top 3. Five players aint enough to win a cup even if they are the best playoffs warrior in the history of the universe including all the alternate universe and multiverse and whatnot.

The mistake they did is give 11 millions to Tavares. That made sure Matthews and Marner would ask for 12 million minimum. They should have passed on Tavares and secured Matthews for 8 years 10 millions after his ELC making sure Marner and Nylander would ask less. After that they should have focusses on finding a real number 1 dman and find good cheap depth.

They put the cart before the horse and that simply doesn't not work. Lot of our fans wanted us to do the same this summer and luckily KH did not bite. KH made sure to secure the young core to cap manageable deals and decided to wait for the team to be ready and know what is missing before making any win now moves.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Leafs main problem is they don't have depth. They have 4 good forwards and a good offensive dman and that's it. The rest of the team is lottery bond and would draft top 3. Five players aint enough to win a cup even if they are the best playoffs warrior in the history of the universe including all the alternate univers and multiverse and whatnot.

The mistake they did is give 11 millions to Tavares. That made sure Matthews and Marner would ask for 12 million minimum. They should have passed on Tavares and secured Matthews for 8 years 10 millions after his ELC making sure Marner and Nylander would ask less. After that they should have focusses on finding a real number 1 dman and find good cheap depth.

They put the cart before the horse and that simply doesn't not work. Lot of our fans wanted us to do the same this summer and luckily KH did not bite. KH made sure to secure the young core to cap manageable deals and decided to wait for the team to be ready and know what is missing before making any win now moves.

In hindsight, yeah it was a terrible move.

I can see where they were coming from though. A superstar says he wants to play for you and you give up no assets to get him? Hard to say no.

And it should've worked. The idea is to outscore your problems. They couldn't have predicted those guys would be so innefective in the playoffs. And if you bet it all on scoring and they don't score? It's not going to work. Tavares also got hurt early on and that really screwed things up.

Another thing, they didn't have to cave on those contracts. They caved on Nelander and that was the end of things. If they'd traded him for a blueliner the others would've fallen in line.

In any event, it turned out to be a huge mistake and we can all be happy about that. I thought it was a good move and thought they'd get a cup out of it. Clearly I was wrong and very happy to be so.

 

[LaP]

In hindsight, yeah it was a terrible move.

I can see where they were coming from though. A superstar says he wants to play for you and you give up no assets to get him? Hard to say no.

And it should've worked. The idea is to outscore your problems. They couldn't have predicted those guys would be so innefective in the playoffs. And if you bet it all on scoring and they don't score? It's not going to work. Tavares also got hurt early on and that really screwed things up.

Another thing, they didn't have to cave on those contracts. They caved on Nelander and that was the end of things. If they'd traded him for a blueliner the others would've fallen in line.

In any event, it turned out to be a huge mistake and we can all be happy about that. I thought it was a good move and thought they'd get a cup out of it. Clearly I was wrong and very happy to be so.

Yes i agree another mistake was after signing Tavares to not trade one of Nylander or Marner for a dman. That was a very obvious move to do. Trade one of Nylander or Marner for a dman and extend Hyman.

I think they could still get a cup in the next 2-3 years. Tavares will be paid less for sure he's a 8 to 9 millions player max now and they will be able to use that money to extend Marner. They'll probably bridge Knies for two years. They have nobody else to sign outside of McCabe. I think they improved their defense a bit. It's not the best defense ever and that Tanev contrat will suck soon but it's a more well rounded defense for sure this year and likely next too. Woll will have a better number 2 to work with him. Stolarz is a quality back up with exp.

I think it will depend on their kids. Knies is very good i like him a lot. Not sure about Minten ceiling but i think he'll become at worse a quality 3rd line guy. I like Cowan a lot too i think they drafted very well in the last 3 years tbh. Liked Topi in junior too and he's doing great in the AHL not sure why they have not given him a few games yet that's bizarre,

 

[montreal]

I've been one of his biggest fans on this board, I think some will be surprised as he has clearly made improvements in skating, strength, speed to the point that I'm not concerned as long as he keeps progressing.

I also think that aside from Demidov, Hutson may be the single most important piece of the Habs future, they must hit on him or someone else will need to show they can QB a PP at a high level or we are f***ed.

 

[Rapala]

Harris might be the only one with a “leg up” as a mid-talented jack of all trades in the very short term imo, if even that. Hutson is at worst Hab new pp qb and the only thing that has him behind those guys (as regulars) and Matheson (on pp1) is old-school veteran respect or the hopes they have trade value soon.

Also outside Savard every D for the last few years is a complete liability so no different here.

Agreed he could/should be lhd3 and pp1 to start though.

In my mind their are three ways Hutson become our QB on PP1 this season.
Matheson missing games, the PP1 becomes so stagnant Hutson gets bumped or he kills it on PP2.
Hutson will have to earn it in the regular season just like Suzuki did and just like Slaf did.
People seem to forget there is a heirarchy that will be respected and they won't just slot raw rookies in on the back end.
I'll agree Caufield started higher up but in a position of extreme weakness which isn't the case on LD.
If the idea is to eventually move on from Matheson HuGo will want to keep his numbers up.

Where is the redundancy with Hutson because it isn't Arber Xhekaj nor is it Jayden Struble or even Jordan Harris.
Unless people think we are going to go ahead and start two non physical Dmen in the top 4 on our left side Hutson's real target is Mike Matheson.
The best he can hope to accomplish this year would be to become the "Specialist" I called him way back in this thread and yes people scoffed.
Sheltered minutes on D and PP1 would be a great year for him if he can pull it off.
I may be totally wrong in all this but I doubt it.

I'm amazed at how shit our D has suddenly become every since Hutson played his two meaningless games last season.

 

[CHwest]

Apart from being undersized I don't think he will have defensive issues, he's much too smart.

He will be exploited by other teams, two games a career does not make. NHL is far above College hockey.

 

[Tyson]

He will be exploited by other teams, two games a career does not make. NHL is far above College hockey.

He imo will adjust and be an excellent player. He is much stronger than folks think and he will handle himself just fine

 

[montreal]

He will be exploited by other teams, two games a career does not make. NHL is far above College hockey.

we'll see, the lack of weight/strength has been my biggest concern, his D is not as bad as some make it out, he's say better then Mailloux, Barron, etc.. but we see how much trouble an undersized Harris has had and he's as smart and poised as they come. He's really good at not getting smoked but also in staying within himself defensively as he knows where to be and what to do but the problem will be he must be with a Guhle type as he will struggle in the crease and along the boards, will need help there for sure but I bet he'll show he's smart enough to get the job done.

Will be very interesting to see how the Habs handle him and his TOI. They can not afford to make a mistake with him as no one has his PP QB abilities among our D prospects.

 

[Rapala]

He imo will adjust and be an excellent player. He is much stronger than folks think and he will handle himself just fine

Probably but to think he's coming in and doing it out of the gate is very very unlikely.
He'll have growing pains like most rookie Dman.
We aren't the New York Rangers and can't support Hutson like they did Adam Fox.
If he could hit Quinn Hughes like numbers year one that would be awesome.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

He will be exploited by other teams, two games a career does not make. NHL is far above College hockey.

He'll have limitations. That doesn't mean he won't be able to play D.

I'm bullish on this guy.

 

[Tyson]

Probably but to think he's coming in and doing it out of the gate is very very unlikely.
He'll have growing pains like most rookie Dman.
We aren't the New York Rangers and can't support Hutson like they did Adam Fox.
If he could hit Quinn Hughes like numbers year one that would be awesome.

For sure but he will help pretty quickly. There will be growing pains.

 

[LaP]

He will be exploited by other teams, two games a career does not make. NHL is far above College hockey.

That's true of every young players. Bedard finished last season -44 one of the worst +/- in the team. Yeah he was playing for a bad team but in 4-5 years Bedard wont be -44 even if he plays with the same quality of players. He was getting own defensively this season which is normal.

Hutson will have to play at the nhl level to learn. Like everyone even the best. And there's only one place you can learn that. If he's not ready then send him in the AHL. But if he's ready then ice him in the NHL and live with the inevitable mistakes those mistakes will be there even after 1 year playing with scrubs in the AHL. Don't learn to stop MacKinnon or McJesus while playing against the likes of Rocco Grimaldi (2nd best player in the AHL last season).

 

[Jaynki]

He will be exploited by other teams, two games a career does not make. NHL is far above College hockey.

Nah. Lane Hutson is the one who exploit his opposition.

You saw him exploiting Perron? Who some folks here wanted as a top six help.

 

[KevSkillz4]

Lane Hutson have same size than Quinn Hughes and outproduced him at same age in NCAA level.

That's not guaranted everything, but damm. Lane Hutson is truly special guys!

 

[SOLR]

In hindsight, yeah it was a terrible move.

I can see where they were coming from though. A superstar says he wants to play for you and you give up no assets to get him? Hard to say no.

And it should've worked. The idea is to outscore your problems. They couldn't have predicted those guys would be so innefective in the playoffs. And if you bet it all on scoring and they don't score? It's not going to work. Tavares also got hurt early on and that really screwed things up.

Another thing, they didn't have to cave on those contracts. They caved on Nelander and that was the end of things. If they'd traded him for a blueliner the others would've fallen in line.

In any event, it turned out to be a huge mistake and we can all be happy about that. I thought it was a good move and thought they'd get a cup out of it. Clearly I was wrong and very happy to be so.

They caved on Tavares, Matthews and Marner - Nylander has a fair contract and he's their best player in the playoffs. Time to try something else.

 

[Hins77]

Hutson is starting in Montreal

That's true of every young players. Bedard finished last season -44 one of the worst +/- in the team. Yeah he was playing for a bad team but in 4-5 years Bedard wont be -44 even if he plays with the same quality of players. He was getting own defensively this season which is normal.

Hutson will have to play at the nhl level to learn. Like everyone even the best. And there's only one place you can learn that. If he's not ready then send him in the AHL. But if he's ready then ice him in the NHL and live with the inevitable mistakes those mistakes will be there even after 1 year playing with scrubs in the AHL. Don't learn to stop MacKinnon or McJesus while playing against the likes of Rocco Grimaldi (2nd best player in the AHL last season).

I don’t think Hutson is gonna play in the AHL next season. Great players don’t play in that league. Suzuki, slaf, caufield (few games), guhle…Hutson is also a special guy. I think he already has the pedigree to doing great in the AHL. He needs to learn in the NHL.
Reinbacher is still young and big, I don’t see a problem to let him play in the AHL. Mailloux needs to play in the NHL too. He had a great season last year

 

[TheViperOne]

In my lifetime watching the Habs, don’t recall a single player even being in discussion for rookie of the year (Calder) balloting … iirc Dryden was last Hab to win 52-years ago

Hutson & Demigod likely to be in the running, future bringing some excitement…

Michael Ryder should have won it his rookie year, finished 2nd I believe to Andrew Raycroft

 

[Guess]

Please don't start Hutson with the Habs unless he gets 16+ min per game, dude's a machine that is used to 25+ min per game, he can get close to that in Laval if he doesn't get it here (I know that NCAA guys play less than NHL, so it's likely he won't play as much in his first season).

Although he's played 2 NHL games already so that means he'd need 4 or less this season to still be eligible for the Calder in 2026. So meh