How so? The history of the sport supports every word I’ve said. Should’ve teams paid Sandis Ozolinsh like Ray Bourque? Steve Duchesne like Rob Blake? Tyson Barrie like Ryan McDonagh?
Hutson, if he can stay healthy, could very easily become this generation’s 1990s Paul Coffey. It’s the closest comparison to him right now. He was once the NHL’s best offensive weapon from the blue line, and just like Hutson, wouldn’t have played a single NHL game, if he was in the lineup to be a traditional dman.
Hutson is even at a disadvantage to that comparison because Coffey could’ve changed the way he played 4-5 years into a contract, if he really needed to. He just chose to never do so. Hutson will likely never have that choice. Out of pure necessity to survive, he’ll never be able to play the position in a traditional way, because of his body structure. You can only take so much punishment at under 160lbs. Your body will breakdown. You will end up concussed numerous times.
Detroit ended up trading Coffey, because they knew they couldn’t win Championships with him, and finally accepted they couldn’t hide him enough anymore. Scotty Bowman has talked about this. The NHL had started playing defensive systems. The wide open 1980s were over.
That team had Nick Lidstrom and Vladimir Konstantinov, and still couldn’t hide Coffey enough.
Those are facts. That’s the reality of having a Dman you wouldn’t have on your NHL team if not for his being an offensive weapon.
This isn’t a PK Subban situation, where he could’ve made the choice to work on his defensive game. This is a 155lb player, pushing 21, who can’t put on any muscle or weight. He’s at a massive physical disadvantage. This is no Quinn Hughes situation either. Quinn has 25-30lbs on Hutson, only being an inch taller. He’s a bulldozer.
Detroit literally replaced Coffey in their line-up, with Larry effen Murphy, who they got for free in a trade, because he’d become a pylon in Toronto. They ended up winning 3 Cups with Murphy in the lineup, instead of the best offensive dman of his generation.
Bottom line is, you win playoff rounds and Cups with great Dmen, who can be great at both ends of the ice. Not giving wealth contracts to offensive weapons on your blue line.
So Hutson is nothing new to the NHL.
Yes, he’s fun to watch on a team not in the mix. Let’s see how fun he is to watch in playoff games, when the game tightens up, and bodies are flying around. When guys 50, 60, 70lbs heavier, start taking shots at him.
Unfortunately for Montreal, they don’t have a Nick Lidstrom and Vladimir Konstantinov to hide Hutson, and those guys still, could only hide Coffey to a certain point.
Once again, you play the game to win Stanley Cups, not be the most exciting. There were many fans in Detroit irate they traded Coffey. He was fun to watch as well. Fans who couldn’t be found after they started winning Cups.
So if you don’t think Montreal is concerned with handing 8-10% of their cap to a player they can’t have on the ice during important minutes of a playoff game, you’re just not dealing in reality. They will try everything possible to bridge him and stall, until they’re forced to make a decision. All while they try finding ways to protect him.
They have to compete with Buffalo and Detroit handing wealth contracts to Seider, Power, Dahlin and Edvinsson, and Montreal fans are ready to hand that much of Montreal’s cap to someone you can’t put on the ice in 3rd Periods of 1 goal playoff games?
Once again, you play to win Cups, not be exciting in the regular season. If Hutson gets through a playoff defying all logic, hand him 12% of your cap. People would change their minds. That’s just not logically going to happen though.
