LD Lane Hutson - Montreal Canadiens, NHL (2022, 62nd, MTL) - Part 2

[Agent Zuuuub]

It's all those shoulder fakes + dekes they hesitate because he's going to juke them.

He's basically Lionel Messi

 

[Artaud]

He's like a point guard with the puck on his stick. He dekes and fakes until the player in front of him is caught flat footed, opening up a lane to pass, shoot, or carry the puck. There is no comparable because the way he plays is so unique.

It was fun to see in the NCAA but most people thought "Well, it's cool, but NHL players won't bite on these kind of tricks". 5 games into his NHL career, it's becoming obvious that his game will translate and it's a problem. Will he get figured out? Teams and players will probably adapt and find ways to contain him, but he is only 20 years old. Chances are his bag of trick will only get bigger as he gets more experience.

Nobody knows how his career will go, but I do think it will be one of the most entertaining careers to follow.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

I’ve seen enough, retire #48

 

[JustAHabFan]

He's like a point guard with the puck on his stick. He dekes and fakes until the player in front of him is caught flat footed, opening up a lane to pass, shoot, or carry the puck. There is no comparable because the way he plays is so unique.

It was fun to see in the NCAA but most people thought "Well, it's cool, but NHL players won't bite on these kind of tricks". 5 games into his NHL career, it's becoming obvious that his game will translate and it's a problem. Will he get figured out? Teams and players will probably adapt and find ways to contain him, but he is only 20 years old. Chances are his bag of trick will only get bigger as he gets more experience.

Nobody knows how his career will go, but I do think it will be one of the most entertaining careers to follow.

This is what Lane Hutson said last night: "My game is going to evolve & it's going to keep changing to whatever I need it to be. It's definitely nice that something are working but I am also learning what doesn't work as well"

 

[JustAHabFan]

I was hoping the Habs draft Lane Hutson at 33rd and was disappointed they went for Owen Beck. Our next pick was at 62nd and I said there was no way he would be there and even if he was there, there was no guarantee the Habs would draft him. To my pleasant surprise he was still available at 62nd and the Habs did draft him.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

I was hoping the Habs draft Lane Hutson at 33rd and was disappointed they went for Owen Beck. Our next pick was at 62nd and I said there was no way he would be there and even if he was there, there was no guarantee the Habs would draft him. To my pleasant surprise he was still available at 62nd and the Habs did draft him.

It seems like every habs fans want too revisit history with that draft. Most hockey fans knew Hutson was very special and I also believe most amateur scouts knew that too. That being said drafting is such a shitshow sometime, teams do not draft based on talent (as they always should) they draft based on projection in the case of Hutson, despite is uber level of talent and upside, they also realized that in the history of the NHL these type of defenseman (5'8, 150lbs) were not even rare, they are inexistant. They decided to not take that risk with their high selection and went with safer options knowing that they could miss on a special talent.

I am also always behind drafting only based on talent and never look at size but some NHL talent evaluator are for some stupid reason not always taking these risks.

I believe we had a poll on the draft board before the draft and Hutson was one of the top choice for 26th overall (if not the top option, just going from memory), I believe every habs fans on this board were pissed that they passed on him at 26th and 33rd but they were very fortunate that other team passed on him too and the habs hit a homerun at 62. That being said, Owen Beck is still a very decent talent and I think if the picks were reversed nobody would have had any issue.

In a sense this is not so dissimilar to the Adam Fox selection, he was also considered undersized with average mobility and he dropped in the 3rd round!! It seems like NHL teams does not learn much from their past mistakes.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Hutson is a special player.

Personally, I've never seen a player like him. He's gonna be a trend maker for sure.

Buium look like him a bit, he too will be a special player.

The quickness with whom he takes the information, analyzes it and reacts is something I've never seen before, to be honest.

This guy's brain will be studied when he dies.

I haven’t seen anything like him either. He doesn’t have the physical attributes you’d expect from a great blueliner. Doesn’t have great top speed or size. But his IQ is really high and he’s so shifty. It’s a unique style and I can’t really compare him to anyone I’ve ever seen.

 

[67 others]

You need to watch his assist on the 3rd goal…Brady Tkachuk is as big as they come and quite fast, tries to knock him off the puck but can’t reach him.

You can’t cover Lane with physicality you need speed & IQ

The point is, small guys and kids tends to blow their energy early in the season. Use more energy against big guys. And by Game 20 are gassed. Happens every year

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

I love it when a smaller player proves the doubters wrong. Again.

 

[HabsAddict]

I like Hutson and suprised he is not targeted...yet.

Bet everything you have that in the playoffs, he will be a prime target. That is where we need to establish that you hurt him, we will take revenge on your best players. It's going to be a mandatory message and so far, the 3 teams we played, they heard it.

That is also why I'm hoping to see Mailman develop as a major offensive threat. It will take a lot of pressure off Hutson. It wont be the future case were you take out Hutson and kill a power play.

This is a unique situation i never seen before on the Habs. They have an uber talent that needs protection so they need to have an uber fighter to give that.

Our super teams of old had some uber talents but on very tough team. Those talents like Lemaire would also put a stick in your mouth. This is a bit different...and different times.

Most definetly an interesting time to be a Habs fan.

 

[waitin425]

The point is, small guys and kids tends to blow their energy early in the season. Use more energy against big guys. And by Game 20 are gassed. Happens every year

can you demonstrate how small guys (let's say under 5'11) flame out at a higher rate after 20 games than guys over 5'11"? I'm interested in that comparitive analysis. or......are you just you know.....spouting nonsense?

 

[HabsAddict]

can you demonstrate how small guys (let's say under 5'11) flame out at a higher rate after 20 games than guys over 5'11"? I'm interested in that comparitive analysis. or......are you just you know.....spouting nonsense?

Pure nonsense.

The Pocket Rocket was 5'7" and 160 pounds. SMALLER then Hutson in a lot dirtier time in the league.

Nothing stopped him. NOTHING

Or what about Ghally now?

 

[nergish]

Personally, I've never seen a player like him. He's gonna be a trend maker for sure.

Who just won the most recent Norris trophy?

Hutson is the result, not the trend maker.

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

The point is, small guys and kids tends to blow their energy early in the season. Use more energy against big guys. And by Game 20 are gassed. Happens every year

I don't think there's anything that supports that statement lol, without even getting into the fact that big players are required to use more energy than small players to move around.

Regardless, Hutson said he's happier playing more games in the NHL than he was in college, so I doubt burnout is going to be much of an issue for him.

 

[67 others]

can you demonstrate how small guys (let's say under 5'11) flame out at a higher rate after 20 games than guys over 5'11"? I'm interested in that comparitive analysis. or......are you just you know.....spouting nonsense?

Sure bud. If you want to do the legwork on Thanksgiving.

Start at Nikolai Ehlers rookie year in fantasy stats and check out all the 6 ft or smaller rookies from him to now and how they do the first 20 games vs the rest of the season and check their first 20 games stats vs the rest of the season.

Have fun

 

[Xirik]

I like Hutson and suprised he is not targeted...yet.

Bet everything you have that in the playoffs, he will be a prime target. That is where we need to establish that you hurt him, we will take revenge on your best players. It's going to be a mandatory message and so far, the 3 teams we played, they heard it.

That is also why I'm hoping to see Mailman develop as a major offensive threat. It will take a lot of pressure off Hutson. It wont be the future case were you take out Hutson and kill a power play.

This is a unique situation i never seen before on the Habs. They have an uber talent that needs protection so they need to have an uber fighter to give that.

Our super teams of old had some uber talents but on very tough team. Those talents like Lemaire would also put a stick in your mouth. This is a bit different...and different times.

Most definetly an interesting time to be a Habs fan.

this is true, If other players on the Hab's don't step up the other teams will put more focus on their game plan around him, Teams will adapt. There has to be more heads to the Hydra then Caufield and Hutson.

 

[Bouboumaster]

I like Hutson and suprised he is not targeted...yet.

I don't think it will happen

Xhekaj proved this year that he absolutly don't give a f*** and will target star players if needed (When he went after Stützle because Greig was running away like a bitch)

As long as we have the threat of a f***ing hardcore goon like Xhekaj looming over the other teams, I think Hutson ain't going to be targeted

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

this is true, If other players on the Hab's don't step up the other teams will put more focus on their game plan around him, Teams will adapt. There has to be more heads to the Hydra then Caufield and Hutson.

Problem is when you start swarming him, he drops a dime of a backhand sauce into the slot like he did against Boston.

 

[Xirik]

Problem is when you start swarming him, he drops a dime of a backhand sauce into the slot like he did against Boston.

True. but a lot of good teams have a good shutdown players that either take them top talent out of the game or almost do. Sometimes it backfires but a lot of the time it forces the other players on the opposing team to step up and win the game.

 

[JadedRandom]

Hutson has played very well to start the year, and has been key in producing offense from nothing, or at least very little room afforded to him.

As a Montreal Canadiens fan I can say that we haven't seen that level of playmaking from our D ever since the days of prime Markov.

But whilst he was "A+" offensively, moreso for a rookie, and very solid in transition, defensively Hutson did get hemmed-in at times in all three games thus far. He also dumped the puck a little more quickly, and generally shied away from contact where our bigger, heftier (and more experienced) defensemen would not.

Hutson has also definitely not been good defending the cycle when it gets installed, but that's in his scouting report and we knew from day 1 that unless he managed to pre-empt plays that it would be the case.

If you really look at his game, then you also notice that Hutson's been cheating a little bit on fast forwards coming at him along the boards by not gapping-up as much and actually backing-off more than your average defender would (allowing easier entries into the zone) given that his back-skating would get a bit exposed if he didn't.

All of which to say that Hutson, as he's said himself, still needs to adapt, improve, and evolve his defensive game.

But with the work ethic, introspective ability, combined with the humbleness, and Hockey IQ that he has chances are that Hutson will get there eventually defensively. And offensively Hutson's already shown to be pretty good, his transition game is similarly already quite polished, so if the defensive problems sort themselves out he'll be a heck of a defenseman.

 

[HabsAddict]

I don't think it will happen

Xhekaj proved this year that he absolutly don't give a f*** and will target star players if needed (When he went after Stützle because Greig was running away like a bitch)

As long as we have the threat of a f***ing hardcore goon like Xhekaj looming over the other teams, I think Hutson ain't going to be targeted

Not now, but in the playoffs, for sure.

I'm also hoping that we have Little X up and he shows that he has a few screws lose. Having two players who "don't give a f***" about hurting their star players will certainly cause their star players on their team to preempt any stupid thinking.

By that time, I'm hoping Mailman and Guhle are also offensive forces. Particularly Mailman who doesn't seem to care about getting hit...or breaking faces.

 

[MoneyManny]

It’s impossible to disagree at this point guy looks legit, hope he stays healthy. I see more Quinn Hughes than Makar tbh

I see neither. Hutson is his own unique thing. People are going to use him as a reference in a few years.

 

[waitin425]

Sure bud. If you want to do the legwork on Thanksgiving.

Start at Nikolai Ehlers rookie year in fantasy stats and check out all the 6 ft or smaller rookies from him to now and how they do the first 20 games vs the rest of the season and check their first 20 games stats vs the rest of the season.

Have fun

Nah man, I'm not doing your work. You made the claim, you should be able to support your claim. One example....Ehlers does not support your assertions that "small players" gas after 20 games.

Show me. Until then, you are talking about an anecdotal observation.

 

[ItWasJustified]

Yeah, it’s insane because Makar is so massive

If Makar was 2-3 inches taller he would've been picked 1st overall.

 

[nergish]

If Makar was 2-3 inches taller he would've been picked 1st overall.

If Cale was 2-3 inches taller, he probably would have dropped further.

"Of course he's dominating that league, he's too physically mature"

Nobody knew if he was for real, he was playing far too weak of competition.
That said, he clearly should have gone 1st OA.