Ed Ned and Leddy
Brokering the Bally Sports + Corncob TV Merger
I think Hutson in the 60s is good value for a team like Montreal who had plenty of kicks at the can. As an NTDP fan and general supporter of undersized players, I'm rooting for Hutson. That said, I think there's a lot of obstacles here.
The rope he was given by the NTDP last year was pretty stunning to me. He would pinch at basically every opportunity imaginable. He had the speed and skill to get away with it in juniors, I think he's going to have to become much more discerning to earn coaches' trust in the pros. BU will be a good middle ground.
Reality is this is a player who could wake up tomorrow three inches taller and twenty pounds stronger and his size would still be an obstacle. The margins for error here are tremendously narrow. Not only is he going to have to gain serious strength and understanding to compete with NHL competitors, he's going to have to elevate the strong parts of his game (generating 5v5/powerplay offense and transitioning the puck) to a pretty exceptional level to justify the deficiencies that come along with his size/strength and high-risk style.
I really hope things pan out for Lane, but if I had to predict the next five years I'd anticipate something like this
1 year out: He has a great year at BU, hfboards pumps his tires heavily, people start a victory lap.
3 years out: He has two good college years under his belt. Produces alright at the AHL level but struggles to gain the trust of his coaches and is getting outmuscled pretty routinely. His biggest advocates still see him as a top 4 player, but others come back down to earth a bit.
5 years out: He's included as a sweetener/reclamation project in a trade, and never quite finds his footing in the NHL.
Hopefully a few years from now someone can dig up this post and it ages terribly, I'd love for Hutson to overcome the odds. But I think people are underestimating the obstacles here.
The rope he was given by the NTDP last year was pretty stunning to me. He would pinch at basically every opportunity imaginable. He had the speed and skill to get away with it in juniors, I think he's going to have to become much more discerning to earn coaches' trust in the pros. BU will be a good middle ground.
Reality is this is a player who could wake up tomorrow three inches taller and twenty pounds stronger and his size would still be an obstacle. The margins for error here are tremendously narrow. Not only is he going to have to gain serious strength and understanding to compete with NHL competitors, he's going to have to elevate the strong parts of his game (generating 5v5/powerplay offense and transitioning the puck) to a pretty exceptional level to justify the deficiencies that come along with his size/strength and high-risk style.
I really hope things pan out for Lane, but if I had to predict the next five years I'd anticipate something like this
1 year out: He has a great year at BU, hfboards pumps his tires heavily, people start a victory lap.
3 years out: He has two good college years under his belt. Produces alright at the AHL level but struggles to gain the trust of his coaches and is getting outmuscled pretty routinely. His biggest advocates still see him as a top 4 player, but others come back down to earth a bit.
5 years out: He's included as a sweetener/reclamation project in a trade, and never quite finds his footing in the NHL.
Hopefully a few years from now someone can dig up this post and it ages terribly, I'd love for Hutson to overcome the odds. But I think people are underestimating the obstacles here.
