Player Discussion Lane Hutson Part 2

[The Great Weal]

Hutson has very limited foot speed. When Matheson steals a puck, no one catches him.

Matheson is one of the best skaters in the league, but I don't think that means Hutson has "very limited foot speed". It's definitely above average, and while it might not make him a Quinn Hughes clone, he should still be a good top 4 dman.

 

[Gustave]

I love that all these TV personalities are churning out D pairings with Guhle playing on the right side, as if it’s a foregone thing that the Habs will once again play their projected #1 LD on his wrong side. This gets to me to no end.

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

His 23 man roster only has 22 players.

I frankly think we go with 13 F 8 D 2 G, at least to start the year. Rotate Struble-Barron with Xhekaj-Mailloux

 

[HomaridII]

If kapanen stands out at camp, Dvorak might be in trouble.

 

[Redux91]

I love that all these TV personalities are churning out D pairings with Guhle playing on the right side, as if it’s a foregone thing that the Habs will once again play their projected #1 LD on his wrong side. This gets to me to no end.

Unfortunately until the Matheson situation is dealt with..
This is what is going to be happening?
And what do you have the D pairs as by chance?

 

[HomaridII]

Unfortunately until the Matheson situation is dealt with..
This is what is going to be happening?
And what do you have the D pairs as by chance?

Plus if you play Guhle on his natural side then your right side depth becomes:

Savard
Mailloux
Barron
Reinbacher

I don’t know about you but I doubt the habs go into the season with something like:

Matheson - Savard
Guhle - mailloux
Hutson - Barron

 

[The Great Weal]

If kapanen stands out at camp, Dvorak might be in trouble.

I doubt it. Nobody wants him at his contract and I don't think we'd waive him.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

I love that all these TV personalities are churning out D pairings with Guhle playing on the right side, as if it’s a foregone thing that the Habs will once again play their projected #1 LD on his wrong side. This gets to me to no end.

Matheson and Guhle are the only two guys who can consistently go up against the toughest opposition and they aren't ideal either (the pairing as it is). It's all MSL has to work with. Savard would get burned too often. So either they switch it up between the two and put Matheson on the right side.

Until either Rainmaker becomes ready or we trade for a 1st pairing-ish right D, Guhle will probably remain on the right side.

I don't see a problem though, because all that experience Guhle is gaining on his offside will be useful in the future and offer more versatility to the team.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Unfortunately until the Matheson situation is dealt with..
This is what is going to be happening?
And what do you have the D pairs as by chance?

It's not really about Matheson, but rather having no one on the right side to face the toughest opposition other than Guhle.

Trade Matheson, and unless you get a 1st pairing righty back, you're stuck with the same problem and Guhle is the only solution, for now.

 

[Milhouse40]

As good as Hutson is now and the hype being real, everyone should temper their expectations a bit. He’s 20 and will be playing his first NHL season. It’s a long, hard season on a mid team and he will be making mistakes and taking steps to be a better player. Doubt he gets the green light to go and do what he can until he settles down his defensive game. So I’d expect him to be a little more reserved while he takes it all in and learns the game. Anything more than 30-35 points would be exceptional for a rookie season IMO.

I think it's a very low expectation.
He already as 2 points in 2 games in the NHL.

He won't be use against top opponent most of the time and will be out there when one of the top 2 line and will get load of PP. Will get offensive opportunities because there's not a whole lot of competition for him on this team. All of that will boost his production.

If healthy, I'm expecting 45-50pts

 

[Redux91]

Plus if you play Guhle on his natural side then your right side depth becomes:

Savard
Mailloux
Barron
Reinbacher

I don’t know about you but I doubt the habs go into the season with something like:

Matheson - Savard
Guhle - mailloux
Hutson - Barron

Yeah exactly, They won't

 

[Redux91]

It's not really about Matheson, but rather having no one on the right side to face the toughest opposition other than Guhle.

Trade Matheson, and unless you get a 1st pairing righty back, you're stuck with the same problem and Guhle is the only solution, for now.

Well it is true that trading Matheson to replace LD1 with an almost ready Guhle does not fix the problem for us 'this year' at RD1 unless you get one back in the trade as you said

But it is about Matheson if they extend him in any way blocking the LD side for Guhle, Hutson, xhekaj

I love Hutson but I'm pretty skeptical he can become the LD1

For this year we can handle Guhle at RD1 one more season
But the next season after that Mailloux and Reinbacher are on the team for sure one would think, but as RD2 and RD3 most likely

So again the problem is, for the next 2 years outside of Guhle

Who is RD1?

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

But it is about Matheson if they extend him in any way blocking the LD side for Guhle, Hutson, xhekaj

I doubt they will do that if both Rainmaker and the Doc pan out.

I love Hutson but I'm pretty skeptical he can become the LD1

Only time will tell, but it's inconsequential to Matheson. We have our 2 future top4 LDs. Matheson will be gone the day someone can replace Kayden on the right side.

 

[Gustave]

Unfortunately until the Matheson situation is dealt with..
This is what is going to be happening?
And what do you have the D pairs as by chance?

It will be that unfortunately. You said what I didn’t want to say; “Dealing with the Matheson situation”. It’s not like he’s an elephant in the room but the writing is on the wall for him; two seasons and he’s gone. We have on the left; Guhle Hutson Xhekaj Struble Engstrom. Matheson’s age doesn’t fit and his profile is still iffy as there are more average seasons than good ones in his repertoire.

It just irks me that I think we will not get the most out of his value. And while we don’t deal with it, we have to handicap Guhle’s development to make sure our right side is even passable.

Guhle - xxxx
Hutson - Savard
Xhekaj - Mailloux
Struble

The missing piece is right there, but we don’t live in a parallel world so it will be Matheson Guhle.

 

[JianYang]

I see all these rosters penciling mailloux in.

I suspect the plan is to have him in the ahl, still. He's going to have to knock it out of the park during camp to have a chance.

 

[Naslundforever]

It will be that unfortunately. You said what I didn’t want to say; “Dealing with the Matheson situation”. It’s not like he’s an elephant in the room but the writing is on the wall for him; two seasons and he’s gone. We have on the left; Guhle Hutson Xhekaj Struble Engstrom. Matheson’s age doesn’t fit and his profile is still iffy as there are more average seasons than good ones in his repertoire.

It just irks me that I think we will not get the most out of his value. And while we don’t deal with it, we have to handicap Guhle’s development to make sure our right side is even passable.

Guhle - xxxx
Hutson - Savard
Xhekaj - Mailloux
Struble

The missing piece is right there, but we don’t live in a parallel world so it will be Matheson Guhle.

That D is pure shit without Matheson in the line up. Guy looks meh on special teams but beyond that I have trouble understanding how little respect he gets. A goon above him at lhd makes little sense to me.

Guhle Matheson Hutson are who I figure could well be in their next playoff push on lhd. And rhd need to pan out big time if a cup ever happens. If Xjekaj is still around by then good for him and I like that type of player. Engstrom might take his spot soon.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Matheson is one of the best skaters in the league, but I don't think that means Hutson has "very limited foot speed". It's definitely above average, and while it might not make him a Quinn Hughes clone, he should still be a good top 4 dman.

Hutson has below average straight line speed. Only Savard is as slow on the Habs. Lane was caught from behind on a promising rush TWICE in the prospects games.

The people who caught him may not have Hutson's fantastic IQ or edgework, but they snuffed out his chances anyway.

 

[salbutera]

Hutson has below average straight line speed. Only Savard is as slow on the Hasbs.

Joe Sakic was “below avg straight line speed” whereas Maxim Afinogenov had “elite straight line speed”….

I would only suggest to start embracing USA Hockey foundational principle of elite edgework + hockey IQ (anticipation) trumps all for hockey prowess…the NHL game is incorporating significantly more of East-West concepts with every passing season

 

[Gustave]

That D is pure shit without Matheson in the line up. Guy looks meh on special teams but beyond that I have trouble understanding how little respect he gets. A goon above him at lhd makes little sense to me.

Guhle Matheson Hutson are who I figure could well be in their next playoff push on lhd. And rhd need to pan out big time if a cup ever happens. If Xjekaj is still around by then good for him and I like that type of player. Engstrom might take his spot soon.

I don’t know if you meant to say that I didn’t respect what he brings. But let me assure you of the contrary; if I thought he wasn’t good, I wouldn’t even bother to mention him. I’d just let him falter and fall into oblivion like Barron might do.

I’m more of a “make sure to capture value when you can” kind of guy. We know he probably won’t stay for a long time. Thus, getting assets for him while his value is very high. We could then use those assets to secure and overpay if needed to get a RD to insulate our younger fellas.

By that point you understand that I do think Guhle Hutson Xhekaj Struble and Engstrom are to my liking on the left side. Some might disagree but to me that’s an excellent combination on left D for the next decade.

 

[BaseballCoach]

It will be that unfortunately. You said what I didn’t want to say; “Dealing with the Matheson situation”. It’s not like he’s an elephant in the room but the writing is on the wall for him; two seasons and he’s gone.

Cheese is Price.

Are we going to say the same when Suzuki is two years from the end of his contract?

How do other clubs work?

How did Detroit deal with "the Lidstrom situation"?

How did Tampa Bay deal with "the Hedman situation"?

How did Vegas deal wth "the Pietrangelo situation"?

How do other teams deal with the disaster of having a 30 year old providing production well in excess of their cap hit? Don't they know that only 25 and unders are allowed to be core players? Don't they know that you are not allowed to compete for a Hockey's Future cup with guys over 29, and therefore you can't do so in the NHL either??

 

[Gustave]

Cheese is Price.

Are we going to say the same when Suzuki is two years from the end of his contract?

How do other clubs work?

How did Detroit deal with "the Lidstrom situation"?

How did Tampa Bay deal with "the Hedman situation"?

How did Vegas deal wth "the Pietrangelo situation"?

How do other teams deal with the disaster of having a 30 year old providing production well in excess of their cap hit? Don't they know that only 25 and unders are allowed to be core players? Don't they know that you are not allowed to compete for a Hockey's Future cup with guys over 29, and therefore you can't do so in the NHL either??

Is Matheson at that grade of Dman? If he’d be, I’d agree with you that we should keep him. However, I don’t think he is and I’d prefer getting good assets for him.

I have no problem with players in their 30’s, it’s not about that.

 

[Adriatic]

Hutson has below average straight line speed. Only Savard is as slow on the Habs. Lane was caught from behind on a promising rush TWICE in the prospects games.

The people who caught him may not have Hutson's fantastic IQ or edgework, but they snuffed out his chances anyway.

Doesn't really bother me that he doesn't have breakaway speed like that. It would be nice but how many times are defensemen going on breakaways anyway?? His offense will mostly come from the point and weaving in the zone.

 

[Gaud]

Been watching this team for seven decades and haven't been this excited since they brought in colour TV.

You can see the building blocks that Hughes is assembling: highly skilled talent surrounded by large, mobile, physically imposing players. I can't wait to see what Hughes does with those 7 high draft choices over the next two years and the cap flexibility he will undoubtedly create once he flushes out the host of overpaid, underperforming veterans from the team's roster.

Good managers/leaders are difficult to find in all walks of life. When you find one its like a breath of fresh air. The next few years should be both interesting and entertaining. The other teams should be as concerned as some of us are optimistic.

"OMG! Their shirt is red!"

 

[Gaud]

That's the most likely scenario imo, so prepare for extreme disappointment I guess.

I hope Hutson gets lots of PP1 time this year, but putting him on PP2 also gives us some good options there.

Even if Hutson comes in and looks better in that role than Matheson, there's a "hierarchy tax" he has to pay out before just giving him the role.

I feel like this is just always how it works, it's relatively meritocratic, but it's not instant.

Then again, Matheson had a good season last year. He wont sell much higher than now. TDL will be interesting in his case..

I'm expecting Hutson to start in laval though from what i saw at the rookie games. Fantastic offense that is offset by very little D. Though it was a junior game, so maybe he will show more of that t camp.

Plus if you play Guhle on his natural side then your right side depth becomes:

Savard
Mailloux
Barron
Reinbacher

I don’t know about you but I doubt the habs go into the season with something like:

Matheson - Savard
Guhle - mailloux
Hutson - Barron

It looks unconvincing for sure. I dont think Hutson and Barron is a good ID. There is no D there. However, this also makes trading Kovacevic puzzling; i figured it meant htey were pencilling Mailloux in .

 

[Gaud]

I see all these rosters penciling mailloux in.

I suspect the plan is to have him in the ahl, still. He's going to have to knock it out of the park during camp to have a chance.

I personally think they traded Kovacevic to pencil him in. They gave him the C over those 2 rookie games last weekend and he looked like a stud. We'll see! So glad hockey is back