LD Lane Hutson - Boston University, NCAA (2022, 62nd, MTL)

[Nico Cauzuki]

This dude is insane. Top 15 in a redraft if done today, which is crazy to see a guy jump 45 spots just 8 months after the draft

he might become a top 5 pick or maybe even the best player from the 2022 draft sky is the limit for Hutson but will need to pair him with a big defensive body

38 points in 29 games has a freshman def is insane,Caufield won the hobey and didnt even have those stats

 

[AuraSphere]

This dude is insane. Top 15 in a redraft if done today, which is crazy to see a guy jump 45 spots just 8 months after the draft

All these takes are kind of confusing me. He was pretty much this dominant during his draft year as well and everyone was expecting him to put up good numbers this year as well. I personally had him in my top 15 last year and was really wishing for him.

The reason he fell is that all 32 teams had a doubt of his 5'8 capability at the NHL level - the Canadiens included but took a gamble with their 3rd pick.

Hope he proves them all wrong, he does crazy stuff on the ice. None of his production is a surprise to most posters though - just read page 3/4 of this thread and you'll see everyones takes before the draft

 

[wetcoast]

All these takes are kind of confusing me. He was pretty much this dominant during his draft year as well and everyone was expecting him to put up good numbers this year as well. I personally had him in my top 15 last year and was really wishing for him.

The reason he fell is that all 32 teams had a doubt of his 5'8 capability at the NHL level - the Canadiens included but took a gamble with their 3rd pick.

Hope he proves them all wrong, he does crazy stuff on the ice. None of his production is a surprise to most posters though - just read page 3/4 of this thread and you'll see everyones takes before the draft

Pretty much this and this happens alot with stat watching and people not realizing what a huge jump it is to the NHL at that size.

He is a very interesting prospect but also a shrimp.

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

Oh come on...no one expected he would be putting together one of the more dominant offensive seasons for a NCAA freshman blueliner in 4 decades.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Oh come on...no one expected he would be putting together one of the more dominant offensive seasons for a NCAA freshman blueliner in 4 decades.

i remember talking with someone at some point last year, don’t know if it was IRL, on here or in DM’s, but we had a good conversation on Hutson.

Both of us were very high on him and we agreed that he was going to be a very good College player, dominate, even. Adam Fox is what we speculated on what his freshman campaign could look like - making the transition to the NHL is where there were questions, and always have been.

I didn‘t expect a statline line this, but yes - I definitely expected him to have a very good offensive year.

 

[AuraSphere]

Oh come on...no one expected he would be putting together one of the more dominant offensive seasons for a NCAA freshman blueliner in 4 decades.

Just because you didn't think so doesn't mean no one did.

He was over PPG in the USHL in his draft year and absolutely skating circles around everyone. I had discussions with my friends and every other poster saying he could be cale makar level offense.

Sure I wasn't able to predict the exact number of points he'd have this season - but again, none of this is a surprise to me or any other poster who actually watched him during his draft year.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Just because you didn't think so doesn't mean no one did.

He was over PPG in the USHL in his draft year and absolutely skating circles around everyone. I had discussions with my friends and every other poster saying he could be cale makar level offense.

Sure I wasn't able to predict the exact number of points he'd have this season - but again, none of this is a surprise to me or any other poster who actually watched him during his draft year.

I said last year that Hutson was the single most talented player in the draft class.

I believe there was a thread created about the speculating the player with the highest upside In the draft, without hesitation I said Hutson.

There were some of us that have known just how good Hutson is. Not many but we were out there.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

I found out about him watching Logan Cooley and Frank Nazar highlight tapes, those were basically Lane Hutson highlight tapes

 

[William H Bonney]

Zero chance he'd go top 15 in a redraft right now. He's having a great (historic) freshman season no doubt but there's a reason he went where he did. He should have gone earlier no doubt, but the stats aren't going to mitigate all the concerns from scouts.

 

[Wats]

Zero chance he'd go top 15 in a redraft right now. He's having a great (historic) freshman season no doubt but there's a reason he went where he did. He should have gone earlier no doubt, but the stats aren't going to mitigate all the concerns from scouts.

I agree, I'm a huge fan of him but I think until he shows something in NHL or gets growth spurt he'll be mid-late first at most.

 

[Michoulicious]

Zero chance he'd go top 15 in a redraft right now. He's having a great (historic) freshman season no doubt but there's a reason he went where he did. He should have gone earlier no doubt, but the stats aren't going to mitigate all the concerns from scouts.

Rumor has it he's 5'10 now. Quinn Hugues went top 10 in a similar depth-wise draft and he was 5'10.

Hugues is a better straight line skater, Hutson as better edges, hands and vision.

If Hutson had been 5'10, I don't think it's unreasonable to think he'd been in the top 5 D drafted with Nemec, Jiricek, Mintyukov, Korchinski and co.

I certainly see him getting drafted in the top 15 if he's 5'10.

 

[William H Bonney]

Rumor has it he's 5'10 now. Quinn Hugues went top 10 in a similar depth-wise draft and he was 5'10.

Hugues is a better straight line skater, Hutson as better edges, hands and vision.

If Hutson had been 5'10, I don't think it's unreasonable to think he'd been in the top 5 D drafted with Nemec, Jiricek, Mintyukov, Korchinski and co.

I certainly see him getting drafted in the top 15 if he's 5'10.View attachment 653832

You have a very generous take of the Hughes vs Hutson skill assessment.

Generally though you're missing the bigger picture. I highly doubt any NHL team only passed on him because he was 5.825" at the draft and now that he's more like 5.95-5.975" they'd take him 47+ spots earlier.

There's a difference between folks thinking Hutson will end up worthy of a top 15 pick down the line and thinking he'd go top 15 only 7 months after the draft if teams could do it over. Teams largely aren't going to abandon determinations they made 7 months ago because an elite offensive defenseman at the junior level is putting up stats, even if better than imagined, reminiscent of an elite offensive defenseman at the junior level which they already knew Hutson was.

Teams do their research. They wouldn't be magically surprised by a physically immature teenager growing a bit. They probably expected it. They're largely going to be more interested in see how he'll physically fill out rather than just if he can make it to 5'10" or if he can improve his defensive play.

That's not to say their scouting assessments were correct. Hutson should have gone earlier in the draft. And he'd probably go earlier in a redraft. But claiming he'd go top 15 based on 7 months of a great statistical run is antithetical to the entire process for how NHL teams prepare for and draft players in the entry draft.

 

[Kcoyote3]

You have a very generous take of the Hughes vs Hutson skill assessment.

Generally though you're missing the bigger picture. I highly doubt any NHL team only passed on him because he was 5.825" at the draft and now that he's more like 5.95-5.975" they'd take him 47+ spots earlier.

There's a difference between folks thinking Hutson will end up worthy of a top 15 pick down the line and thinking he'd go top 15 only 7 months after the draft if teams could do it over. Teams largely aren't going to abandon determinations they made 7 months ago because an elite offensive defenseman at the junior level is putting up stats, even if better than imagined, reminiscent of an elite offensive defenseman at the junior level which they already knew Hutson was.

Teams do their research. They wouldn't be magically surprised by a physically immature teenager growing a bit. They probably expected it. They're largely going to be more interested in see how he'll physically fill out rather than just if he can make it to 5'10" or if he can improve his defensive play.

That's not to say their scouting assessments were correct. Hutson should have gone earlier in the draft. And he'd probably go earlier in a redraft. By claiming he'd go top 15 based on 7 months of a great statistical run is antithetical to the entire process for how NHL teams prepare for and draft players in the entry draft.

Pretending like NHL teams don't consistently write off players under 5'10" and push them down multiple rounds is also antithetical to the reality of the NHL draft.

 

[William H Bonney]

Pretending like NHL teams don't consistently write off players under 5'10" and push them down multiple rounds is also antithetical to the reality of the NHL draft.

Not pretending that. But if they were holding that against him at the draft, why would he magically go top 15 now that he's...still under 5'10"?

 

[Michoulicious]

Not pretending that. But Hutson isn't even 5'10" yet, so if they were doing that with him at the draft, why would he magically go top 15 now that he's...still under 5'10"?

Is he still under 5'10? Not according to BU/Elite prospect.

Anyways, his brother reached 5'11 at 21, and his father is 5'11 as well. Let's just say teams clearly missed the boat in this one.

Seeing his progression, his incredible performance/stats and the fact he basically is now the same height as Quinn Hugues, I don't see how someone can't put him top 15-30 in a redraft as of today.

FORWARDS Hobey Baker winners often don't produce as much as what he's doing as a freshman D man. It is almost unprecedented. His coach makes him play 25+ mins a night and he's still freshman.

I mean, just looking at the top 15, I take him 100% before Geekie, Savoie, Mateychuk, Nazar and Lekkerimaki... And for the others, I'm not sure. For real.

I could certainly someone defending him as already the best player in the whole draft, and we're only 8 months later. He was frickin drafted #62. Ridiculous.

At some point scouts will admit they were very wrong... It is just too obvious.

 

[William H Bonney]

Is he still under 5'10? Not according to BU/Elite prospect.

Anyways, his brother reached 5'11 at 21, and his father is 5'11 as well. Let's just say teams clearly missed the boat in this one.

Seeing his progression, his incredible performance/stats and the fact he basically is now the same height as Quinn Hugues, I don't see how someone can't put him top 15-30 in a redraft as of today.

FORWARDS Hobey Baker winners often don't produce as much as what he's doing as a freshman D man. It is almost unprecedented. His coach makes him play 25+ mins a night and he's still freshman.

I mean, just looking at the top 15, I take him 100% before Geekie, Savoie, Mateychuk, Nazar and Lekkerimaki... And for the others, I'm not sure. For real.

I could certainly someone defending him as already the best player in the whole draft, and we're only 8 months later. He was frickin drafted #62. Ridiculous.

At some point scouts will admit they were very wrong... It is just too obvious.

BU rounds up. 5'10" is not literally 5'10". EP is not a source of truth. They can't even match his weight to BU's roster listings. But again, not the point. Your hyper-focus on thinking height is all that matters is odd. Quinn Hughes was 20 pounds bigger than Hutson as a college freshman, and Hughes was 8 months younger. Stop being obsessed with height when his frame is the bigger concern.

Teams might have "missed the boat." But it's not because they're surprised he grew 1.25-1.5" inches. You have access to less information than NHL teams did. Trust me. They knew the measurables of his family members and wouldn't have expected he was done growing. No NHL team is like "OMG, he's 5'9+" now, how did we not see this coming? If only we could have drafted him 47+ spots earlier."

Have you literally seen his progression? Or are you a Montreal fan who just started following his box scores when the NCAA season started? Hutson is having a fantastic year, about as well as one could hope. He was amazing value at #62, the type of high-risk, high-reward picks teams should make earlier in the draft. He's improved, as most players do at this age, but he's not that different than he was last year. He's an elite offensive defenseman putting up elite offensive defenseman stats on a top-tier team (just like last year) that scores the 3rd most G/G.

Unless you have some new source I'm not aware of they don't track NCAA TOI. But it's not surprising he's a top player on the team. He's an elite talent and the Terriers only had one offensive d-man (Fensore) until Hutson joined the team. He walked into a prime role and proved he deserved it. And have you considered how his playing more helps the stats you care so much about?

It doesn't matter who you would take him before. Go wild with how you'd draft him ahead of those guys. I have no desire to argue with anyone about where they would draft someone. I wouldn't have even responded.

But where you would draft him has zero correlation to what NHL teams would do in a redraft 7 months post-draft. Hutson was a better U18 player than most of the guys drafted ahead of him. NHL teams don't take a guy like Geekie ahead of Hutson because they think Geekie is the better current player. Teams draft on projection. They draft on biases. They draft on organizational needs. They draft on personal preferences. And so on. Hutson producing at an elite clip in his freshman season, just like he was during his draft year when he put up the 2nd most points ever in a season for a defenseman in NTDP history, while only being slightly bigger isn't going to completely redefine the way NHL teams scout or would have evaluated Hutson.

 

[QJL]

BU rounds up. 5'10" is not literally 5'10". EP is not a source of truth. They can't even match his weight to BU's roster listings. But again, not the point. Your hyper-focus on thinking height is all that matters is odd. Quinn Hughes was 20 pounds bigger than Hutson as a college freshman, and Hughes was 8 months younger. Stop being obsessed with height when his frame is the bigger concern.

Teams might have "missed the boat." But it's not because they're surprised he grew 1.25-1.5" inches. You have access to less information than NHL teams did. Trust me. They knew the measurables of his family members and wouldn't have expected he was done growing. No NHL team is like "OMG, he's 5'9+" now, how did we not see this coming? If only we could have drafted him 47+ spots earlier."

Have you literally seen his progression? Or are you a Montreal fan who just started following his box scores when the NCAA season started? Hutson is having a fantastic year, about as well as one could hope. He was amazing value at #62, the type of high-risk, high-reward picks teams should make earlier in the draft. He's improved, as most players do at this age, but he's not that different than he was last year. He's an elite offensive defenseman putting up elite offensive defenseman stats on a top-tier team (just like last year) that scores the 3rd most G/G.

Unless you have some new source I'm not aware of they don't track NCAA TOI. But it's not surprising he's a top player on the team. He's an elite talent and the Terriers only had one offensive d-man (Fensore) until Hutson joined the team. He walked into a prime role and proved he deserved it. And have you considered how his playing more helps the stats you care so much about?

It doesn't matter who you would take him before. Go wild with how you'd draft him ahead of those guys. I have no desire to argue with anyone about where they would draft someone. I wouldn't have even responded.

But where you would draft him has zero correlation to what NHL teams would do in a redraft 7 months post-draft. Hutson was a better U18 player than most of the guys drafted ahead of him. NHL teams don't take a guy like Geekie ahead of Hutson because they think Geekie is the better current player. Teams draft on projection. They draft on biases. They draft on organizational needs. They draft on personal preferences. And so on. Hutson producing at an elite clip in his freshman season, just like he was during his draft year when he put up the 2nd most points ever in a season for a defenseman in NTDP history, while only being slightly bigger isn't going to completely redefine the way NHL teams scout or would have evaluated Hutson.

He looks 5’10” to me.

 

[William H Bonney]

He looks 5’10” to me.

Now that's scientific. Top 10 for sure.

 

[Ligue]

BU rounds up. 5'10" is not literally 5'10". EP is not a source of truth. They can't even match his weight to BU's roster listings. But again, not the point. Your hyper-focus on thinking height is all that matters is odd. Quinn Hughes was 20 pounds bigger than Hutson as a college freshman, and Hughes was 8 months younger. Stop being obsessed with height when his frame is the bigger concern.

Teams might have "missed the boat." But it's not because they're surprised he grew 1.25-1.5" inches. You have access to less information than NHL teams did. Trust me. They knew the measurables of his family members and wouldn't have expected he was done growing. No NHL team is like "OMG, he's 5'9+" now, how did we not see this coming? If only we could have drafted him 47+ spots earlier."

Have you literally seen his progression? Or are you a Montreal fan who just started following his box scores when the NCAA season started? Hutson is having a fantastic year, about as well as one could hope. He was amazing value at #62, the type of high-risk, high-reward picks teams should make earlier in the draft. He's improved, as most players do at this age, but he's not that different than he was last year. He's an elite offensive defenseman putting up elite offensive defenseman stats on a top-tier team (just like last year) that scores the 3rd most G/G.

Unless you have some new source I'm not aware of they don't track NCAA TOI. But it's not surprising he's a top player on the team. He's an elite talent and the Terriers only had one offensive d-man (Fensore) until Hutson joined the team. He walked into a prime role and proved he deserved it. And have you considered how his playing more helps the stats you care so much about?

It doesn't matter who you would take him before. Go wild with how you'd draft him ahead of those guys. I have no desire to argue with anyone about where they would draft someone. I wouldn't have even responded.

But where you would draft him has zero correlation to what NHL teams would do in a redraft 7 months post-draft. Hutson was a better U18 player than most of the guys drafted ahead of him. NHL teams don't take a guy like Geekie ahead of Hutson because they think Geekie is the better current player. Teams draft on projection. They draft on biases. They draft on organizational needs. They draft on personal preferences. And so on. Hutson producing at an elite clip in his freshman season, just like he was during his draft year when he put up the 2nd most points ever in a season for a defenseman in NTDP history, while only being slightly bigger isn't going to completely redefine the way NHL teams scout or would have evaluated Hutson.

Not advocating one way or another but I strongly believe NHL teams f***up on drafting and they know it 7 months later. I would just point out to Sebastian Aho. You can’t tell me scouts expected him to do that well in the Liiga in his draft + 1 season. Those kind of f***ups and the fact that an 18 year old very rarely does anything in the NHL in his D+1 season is why I have long been advocating for drafting age to increase but that is a different topic of discussion.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

He looks 5’10” to me.

Bro can eyeball the torque on a lug nut

 

[William H Bonney]

Not advocating one way or another but I strongly believe NHL teams f***up on drafting and they know it 7 months later. I would just point out to Sebastian Aho. You can’t tell me scouts expected him to do that well in the Liiga in his draft + 1 season. Those kind of f***ups and the fact that an 18 year old very rarely does anything in the NHL in his D+1 season is why I have long been advocating for drafting age to increase but that is a different topic of discussion.

I don't mean to advocate that teams wouldn't do things differently, even if 7 months later, if they could...in any scenario. As I've said, I would have taken Hutson higher in the draft and I think he'd go higher in a redraft now. But I think there's less than a infinitesimal chance he'd go top 15. As others have pointed out, Hutson was already an elite offensive defenseman. His point totals are higher than anyone would have expected, but it's not surprising he's putting up a lot of points. He's a tiny bit bigger but he's showing the same elite offensive qualities that were ever present in his draft year for scouts. If he were a guy who showed some offensive skills but had average production his draft year and then went off as a freshman, this would be different. Teams would see something new that'd certainly have them reconsidering their evaluations. Like your Aho case, where I agree teams would have had an entirely new take on him that quickly after the draft.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Hutson's points so far

 

[montreal]

 

[Nico Cauzuki]

This kid will become the steal of the draft

 

[Sam de Mtl]

Interesting game. It showed all the good and the bad of Lane.

He had some wow moments and got himself a point, but he also over handled the puck a ton, was quite inefficient in his play selection and created 3-4 turnovers that would look terrible at the NHL level.

Generally, you can add that he is too weak along the boards and in front of the net, which can hopefully be improved upon in the coming years.

I'm not betting against him because he seems to beat the odds constantly and that is a sign of a smart kid who can adapt to the challenges, but he is not a finished product at all, despite the point totals.