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

[Frank Drebin]

Leafs balanced that out by lighting up Wolf last night

I mean we all love to hate the leafs but they’re a pretty stacked team and Calgary, Montreal and San Jose are not

 

[dgibb10]

I’ve agreed with some of your comments, but I also feel some have went too far.

Evaluating him defensively only on his advanced stats isn’t a good strategy. I don’t like the idea of evaluating rookies on advanced stats. Rookies almost uniformly (even the best ones) are a product of their atmosphere. They have flaws, they don’t tilt the ice, they’re reactive, and they all make mistakes. I think you have to evaluate them differently.

And I think evaluating rookies is on a curve. You’re not expecting perfection. They’re on an ELC. They have a lot of potential growth. Maybe if your team is all in and you need immediate results you might harp on some of the faults, but I think generally you live with their mistakes and most people are very lenient when evaluating them. And that’s probably the way it should be. If they were evaluated like everyone else, very few would stick.

I don’t think it’s black and white. I think his defensive play is somewhere between great and terrible. And I don’t see the need to harp on his defending so often. Let the guy grow his game. It’s tedious when people harp on the faults constantly of the youngest regular defenseman in the league, especially when he’s generally having a very good season.

I think you're trying to evaluate a different thing than me.

You're trying to evaluate from a developmental perspective, which I understand and can certainly do and appreciate. For an undersized, offensive minded, rookie playing a massive role, yes it is 100% expected and understandable to have defensive miscues and struggles.

My issue comes with those who are taking those different (lowered) standards, and using them to then say he is/has been better right now/this season than veteran's who are being held to a MUCH higher standard (especially defensively).

If people want to throw him into conversations comparing him to veterans right now, they should be willing to accept that means you don't get to use the rookie crutch/excuse