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

[Terrier]

 

[ryan callahan]

The weight worries are absolutely overstated. If Hutson can play like this offensively in the pros, he can be 120 pounds soaking wet for all I care about.

 

[Anardil]

This is incorrect. The videos show his warts as well.

Really? All I've seen are videos showing his offensive moves. I have yet to see any videos showing his struggles skating backwards, and getting 'turnstiled' in his zone.

Luckily I did see him play in last year's Worlds and in the WJ Championship. He has a lot of developing to do in Laval before I see him as a regular with the Habs.

That being said as a Hab fan I do hope that he becomes something close to what a lot of the fanbase is losing their minds over.

I've watched this team since 1971, and it takes a lot to impress me.

 

[Beniersgeron]

Really? All I've seen are videos showing his offensive moves. I have yet to see any videos showing his struggles skating backwards, and getting 'turnstiled' in his zone.

Luckily I did see him play in last year's Worlds and in the WJ Championship. He has a lot of developing to do in Laval before I see him as a regular with the Habs.

That being said as a Hab fan I do hope that he becomes something close to what a lot of the fanbase is losing their minds over.

I've watched this team since 1971, and it takes a lot to impress me.

Then maybe you need better glasses because Lane Hutson have been awesome since being drafted

 

[montreal]

Really? All I've seen are videos showing his offensive moves. I have yet to see any videos showing his struggles skating backwards, and getting 'turnstiled' in his zone.

Luckily I did see him play in last year's Worlds and in the WJ Championship. He has a lot of developing to do in Laval before I see him as a regular with the Habs.

That being said as a Hab fan I do hope that he becomes something close to what a lot of the fanbase is losing their minds over.

I've watched this team since 1971, and it takes a lot to impress me.

It says I have 87 Lane Hutson vids on my youtube channel, I can say for sure you will see clips of him struggling at times as I show the good and bad in my vids, though with Hutson I try to keep the vids length down since at one point it was said that he was playing over 30 mins a game and when my vids are over 10 mins the average viewer only watches about 30-40% of the entire vid so I try not to have them be too long.

I don't know what he will be but one thing I do want to see is the Habs to stop rushing these kids, it drives me crazy. I like the approach they have taken with Reinbacher at least so far.

Hab Prospect Videos

Hab prospect fan, former writer for Hockey's Future.com as well as other blogs that cover the Montreal Canadians prospects.

www.youtube.com

 

[Junohockeyfan]

What serves Lane Hutson well is that he makes very quick decisions with the puck in the defensive zone. He has to as he won't be winning board battles at his size. That said, he won his share last night and played very steady D. He had one bobble in the D zone when he caught an edge and fell.

He also is much faster than last season. He's a very good skater - particularly when transitioning the puck. He doesn't skate much backwards but i think that is by choice.

I think a year in Laval getting stronger will serve him well before the big leagues.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Really? All I've seen are videos showing his offensive moves. I have yet to see any videos showing his struggles skating backwards, and getting 'turnstiled' in his zone.

Luckily I did see him play in last year's Worlds and in the WJ Championship. He has a lot of developing to do in Laval before I see him as a regular with the Habs.

That being said as a Hab fan I do hope that he becomes something close to what a lot of the fanbase is losing their minds over.

I've watched this team since 1971, and it takes a lot to impress me.

The videos @montreal took show entire shifts or games. Yes, they show his mistakes.

I don’t care how long anyone has been watching hockey, I don’t know how you can’t be impressed with his play. He’s a very special player.

Now, can that play transfer to the NHL? Not a certainty. I think he’ll have to adjust. I don’t see him getting away with that rover type play in the NHL but I do think he’ll be successful. His skills are pretty incredible. He looks better than Subban did with the puck and that’s saying something.

Cool that you got to see Dryden though, I’d have loved to have seen that.

 

[Oak]

The weight worries are absolutely overstated. If Hutson can play like this offensively in the pros, he can be 120 pounds soaking wet for all I care about.

Until a 220 lb body finishes a check on him. Don't say he is too shifty to be hit because we all know that's not true.

 

[De Montreal]

Sam Girard get hit from time to time but he’s still a good dman. Hutson doesn’t have his speed but he might make better decisions with the puck.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Until a 220 lb body finishes a check on him. Don't say he is too shifty to be hit because we all know that's not true.

Everybody said the same thing against Patrick Kane or basically any player under 5'9 and 180.

It never happen, why? because they are conditioned to sense danger because of their size and they have succeeded at every level. People make it seems like every player under a certain size have finished their career after a big hit.

He will have to adapt but he is way more shiftier and agile on his skate than all 220 pounds player in the league

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I've seen better games from him than tonight but he had some really nice setups. He wasn't as good as usual but he was BU's best player by far.

 

[scoutman1]

Until a 220 lb body finishes a check on him. Don't say he is too shifty to be hit because we all know that's not true.

the game is a lot more finesse based now and hits are at a minimum, not my favorite hockey but a guy like Hutson can thrive in todays game

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

Sam Girard get hit from time to time but he’s still a good dman. Hutson doesn’t have his speed but he might make better decisions with the puck.

Agreed but the concern with Girard is if he can handle the playoffs, he was healthy scratched for heavier guys the year the Avs won the cup

 

[Oak]

Everybody said the same thing against Patrick Kane or basically any player under 5'9 and 180.

It never happen, why? because they are conditioned to sense danger because of their size and they have succeeded at every level. People make it seems like every player under a certain size have finished their career after a big hit.

He will have to adapt but he is way more shiftier and agile on his skate than all 220 pounds player in the league

Patrick Kane is a winger and not expected to go into the corners to retrieve pucks. Not saying Hutson can't play in the show. If he has a strong center support and a good partner he can play his offensive style but it will be interesting to watch.

the game is a lot more finesse based now and hits are at a minimum, not my favorite hockey but a guy like Hutson can thrive in todays game

For 80% of the games yes. For whatever reason the game has started to ramp back towards physicality and even fighting this season which I am a fan of.

 

[Oak]

Sam Girard get hit from time to time but he’s still a good dman. Hutson doesn’t have his speed but he might make better decisions with the puck.

Girard doesn't have the puck on his stick nearly as often as Hutson does. When you like to have the puck that often you will be targeted. Q Hughes is the exception with his skating. Hutson isn;t nearly as agile or fast when he skates.

Will be interesting to see how he pans out for sure.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Girard doesn't have the puck on his stick nearly as often as Hutson does. When you like to have the puck that often you will be targeted. Q Hughes is the exception with his skating. Hutson isn;t nearly as agile or fast when he skates.

Will be interesting to see how he pans out for sure.

They targeted him tonight. He sidestepped a big hit. He's been doing it all his life.

Honestly, the skating concerns are really overblown with this guy. He might not win a footrace with McDavid but he's not slow either. And he's incredibly deceptive.

Good solid game from him tonight. He didn't dominate as he usually does but he had a solid game and made some great plays.

 

[Oak]

I'm not gonna argue with the habs boys but I will eat crow if Hutson has a career as a top 2 dman. PP specialist with low defensive zone assignments is possible. Question is what do you do with him when the playoffs start.

Will be fun to watch because the little PP QB's are becoming the norm from juniors all the way down to youth.

 

[De Montreal]

Agreed but the concern with Girard is if he can handle the playoffs, he was healthy scratched for heavier guys the year the Avs won the cup

IIRC he was injured in the Blues playoff

 

[Junohockeyfan]

Sam Girard get hit from time to time but he’s still a good dman. Hutson doesn’t have his speed but he might make better decisions with the puck.

Bad example. When Girard gets hit he shatters as evidenced by his playoff woes. Girard is exactly what we don't want. An un-productive small, soft and brittle dman who plays scared when the intensity of the game increases (playoffs).

Lane Hutson will need to produce offense to be valuable to the Habs. On the plus side, he makes extremely quick decisions in his own zone. He doesn't get hit very often though he doesn't put himself in a position to get hit. Instead he contains the forwards.

Girard puts himself in trouble and that has turned him into a liability when the going gets tough.

 

[malcb33]

Agreed but the concern with Girard is if he can handle the playoffs, he was healthy scratched for heavier guys the year the Avs won the cup

Health scratch? The guy had a broken sternum...



I don't know if this helps or hinders the size argument, but players of all sizes can suffer broken sternums.

 

[Anardil]

Then maybe you need better glasses because Lane Hutson have been awesome since being drafted

I'll get back to you when he is as awesome when he joins the pro ranks.

 

[Anardil]

Now, can that play transfer to the NHL? Not a certainty. I think he’ll have to adjust. I don’t see him getting away with that rover type play in the NHL but I do think he’ll be successful. His skills are pretty incredible. He looks better than Subban did with the puck and that’s saying something.

Cool that you got to see Dryden though, I’d have loved to have seen that.

I quoted the part of your post that supports my point of view. I am 100% a Habs fan and I want nothing more than to see every Hab prospect reach their potential and even surpass it.

Having grown up watching the last Habs dynasty makes it hard to be impressed by any prospect before they at least show some dominance at the pro level. Also the piss poor drafting and development of the prospects for the past 40 years does not help with my expectations of them when they reach the NHL.

This organization has been unable to draft an elite non goalie since the end of the dynasty, so yeah, I am hard to impress. IMHO all Habs fans should be hard to impress, since there has truly been very little to truly be EXCITED about for a very long time.

The last prospect that I can say that I was excited about was Subban, because he showed dominance in the A before joining the Habs.

At this point I am intrigued at the potential that Hutson has showed since being drafted. I apologize if that bothers my fellow Habs fans who believe Hutson will be a top pairing all star dman. I'm not there yet.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I quoted the part of your post that supports my point of view. I am 100% a Habs fan and I want nothing more than to see every Hab prospect reach their potential and even surpass it.

Having grown up watching the last Habs dynasty makes it hard to be impressed by any prospect before they at least show some dominance at the pro level. Also the piss poor drafting and development of the prospects for the past 40 years does not help with my expectations of them when they reach the NHL.

This organization has been unable to draft an elite non goalie since the end of the dynasty, so yeah, I am hard to impress. IMHO all Habs fans should be hard to impress, since there has truly been very little to truly be EXCITED about for a very long time.

The last prospect that I can say that I was excited about was Subban, because he showed dominance in the A before joining the Habs.

At this point I am intrigued at the potential that Hutson has showed since being drafted. I apologize if that bothers my fellow Habs fans who believe Hutson will be a top pairing all star dman. I'm not there yet.

I’m right there with you. Our drafting sucked for years. Timmins was a huge improvement and we suddenly started to see productive players coming out of that era (Price, Subban, Max, McDonnaugh who we tragically traded.) Then the new regime came in and suddenly we couldn’t draft our way out of a paper bag.

But look what happpeded to Timmins’ picks after they left. Guehle, Roy, CC… all of a sudden we were producing good prospects again.

The new regime is even better. 2022 might be our best draft since 1984. 2023 yielded RB, Folwer (who is on pace to break an NCAA record.)

We’re packed with prospects. And look at the pedigree:

Caufield NCAA record
Hutson NCAA record
Roy Minor league scoring champion
Guehle
RB
Mailloux
Fowler - on verge of NCAA record
Slafkovsky - on 40 point pace in first full year at 19
Another top ten pick this year

We are absolutely stacked at the prospect level. More than we have been since - maybe Sam Polloch.

We’re probably two years from the playoffs. But once we get there, I think we’ll stay there a long time.

Stay patient, enjoy watching these guys develop. It’s going to be fun in the coming years.

 

[Boxscore]

People keep worrying about Hutson, lmao. Size?! I don't care what HockeyDB says... I literally stood next to Shayne Gostisbehere and he's built like someone's little brother. He was 5-10 (at most) and skinny as a rail... and he managed to score 65 points in the National Hockey League. This isn't the DPE or an era where the blueline is loaded with killers like Stevens, Kasparaitis, Hatcher, Foote, Chelios, Marchment, Ulanov, Konstantinov, etc. Today's game is all about puck movement, smarts, mental toughness, and capitalizing on the PP. Hutson will be fine. The biggest hurdle for him will be dealing with the crazy media and fans in Montreal. His size... no problemo!

 

[Boxscore]

Health scratch? The guy had a broken sternum...



I don't know if this helps or hinders the size argument, but players of all sizes can suffer broken sternums.

Size is irrelevant. Ekblad and Werenski are both big kids and are made of glass.