Rookie defenseman Lane Hutson may be snake-bitten, based on his lack of goals. However, no one in or around the Montreal Canadiens organization should be complaining. That extends beyond the fact the last-place Habs have more to worry about than the individual stats of a single player. Hell, it extends beyond the fact Hutson is still second in overall rookie scoring with 19 assists in 28 games. It’s more so a reflection of how Hutson is contributing in other ways to justify his ice time.
And, while there had been doubts the Canadiens would follow through on in-the-media promises to give the 20-year-old ample ice time, true to their word they in fact are. Hutson has played a second-ranked 22:54 per game on the team, mostly playing on a pairing with veteran David Savard, which head coach Martin St. Louis has relied on most.
Hutson vs. Slafkovsky
A hypothetical lack of usage would have been the primary hang-up keeping Hutson in the American Hockey League this season. Look to how the rookie season of third-year forward and former-first-overall-pick Juraj Slafkovsky went as justification for any such concern. As has been well-documented, Slafkovsky played a 30th-ranked 12:13 per game in 2022-23, below forwards like Jesse Ylonen, Rem Pitlick and Chris Tierney, none of whom are still Habs.
Slafkovsky ended his injury-shortened rookie campaign with a modest four goals and six assists in 39 games, prompting criticism he should instead play in the AHL into his sophomore season. There’s ample evidence for a cogent argument that he should have started his career in the AHL and worked his way up to the Canadiens. Considering defensemen traditionally take longer to develop, Hutson should have rationally been destined for the minors too, until the point at which he proved he had outgrown the Laval Rocket, whether in an entire season or after just a handful of games.
Related: No Good Reason for Canadiens to Rush Slafkovsky to NHL
Obviously, the Canadiens went against the grain to keep him up, much to the delight of so many Habs fans. To be fair though, there’s probably at least some overlap with the fans who cheered for Guillaume Latendresse to make the team as a just-drafted 18-year-old in 2005. All that to say, patience should be preached when it comes to the development of prospects, because there is a such thing as ruining that development if they’re rushed to the NHL too soon. Latendresse ultimately only made it to the show the following season, but still probably could have used additional seasoning, based on his eventual modest level of production. Despite Hutson’s lack of goals, that doesn’t seem to be the case here, however.
The Canadiens obviously reserve the right to demote Hutson should he encounter obstacles along the way. There are no guarantees they won’t come a certain point. Considering they’ve kept Slafkovsky up through his hardships though, there’s at least a pretty good chance Hutson sticks, come what may. However, based on Hutson having set several Canadiens records already, it’s becoming increasingly unlikely it ever gets to the point they’re even faced with such a decision anyway.
Hutson Breaks Chelios’ Record
Hutson has already become the first Canadiens defenseman 20 years of age younger to score points in four consecutive games. A few days later, he passed Chris Chelios, who had scored in six straight games on two separate occasions in 1984-85, as the Habs rookie defenseman with the longest point streak (seven).
These are all indications Hutson, even without him having found the back of the net as of yet, not only will eventually but that he has already become an integral part of the team. The future can only be brighter as he grows further to establish himself as the go-to offense-driving defenseman on the team’s back-end, presumably for years to come. That’s how this logically pans out. It’s probably no coincidence he’s scored a tied-for-third seven points on the power play, which has suddenly become competent, clicking at 22.1%, when, even the year the Canadiens went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, it was just 19.2%. The last time it was this high (over an entire season) was 2007-08 (a league-leading 24.1%). Of the Canadiens’ top scorers so far this season, Hutson is the only new ingredient relative to last season.
What’s more of an indication: In terms of on-ice shot attempts (Corsi), Hutson is the only Caandiens defenseman to hit 50% (even). He’s also the highest-ranking Habs defenseman in terms of on-ice expected goals percentage (48.4%, stats per MoneyPuck.com). On a young, defensively struggling team, that all says a lot regarding his ability to drive possession.
None of this is controversial or news to Canadiens fans. If they were to parse through social media (at their peril) to see how fans of other teams see Hutson though, they’d come across arguments that his inability to score up to this point is not just cause for concern but a cause for laughter. It’s increasingly clear those posts are more so a manifestation of a coping mechanism than anything else. Obviously Hutson isn’t a superstar now or anything. However, even the mere idea he could develop into one, one day, seems to strike a nerve, often without any prompting. Hutson may very well live in the heads of some Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs fans rent-free.
Huh.
Goalless Hutson Still Continues to Defy Odds
They may point to ex-St. Louis Blues defenseman Tom Tilley, as an example. A rookie in 1988-89, he scored 22 assists in 69 games only to notch his first goal in his 70th and final one that season. He’d only play 174 games total.
They may also point to ex-Chicago Black Hawks defenseman Keith Magnuson, who went completely goalless as a rookie, with 24 assists, in 1969-70. Of course, the validity of any criticism directed at Hutson to that effect becomes increasingly laughable as Magnuson, while never a “star,” did end up playing over 10 years, several as team captain. So, would they hypothetically be arguing there’s a chance Hutson never becomes a top player, but still could develop into a serviceable defenseman?
Wow. Call the burn ward.
Keep in mind, Magnuson’s skill set was different than Hutson’s. With 1,442 penalties in minutes, the former’s didn’t lend itself as well to significant point totals. So, it’s like comparing apples and oranges, with Hutson having been drafted 62nd overall in 2022 based on his high-end skill. He fell as far as he did, because of his lack of size at 5-foot-9, 162 pounds. In contrast, Magnuson was never drafted, signing as a free agent after a successful University of Denver collegiate career. Tilley was meanwhile a 10th-round pick in 1984. So, compared to Hutson, neither really had as much of a pedigree of game-breaking talent.
Sure, some may say Hutson’s lack of goals so far is a sign he won’t make it. However, the fact he’s made it this far as an undersized defenseman and has found success, whether critics choose to acknowledge it as such, is instead a sign he’s an NHL defenseman for the long haul.
Hutson may not score a single goal this season. If he doesn’t, he’ll still end up in good company, on pace to shatter the record set by ex-Leafs defenseman Jim Thomson, who had just 29 assists in the highest-scoring non-goal season on record, in 1947-48.
Not that it’s especially relevant, considering where the Canadiens are in their rebuild, but the Leafs won the Stanley Cup that season. Thomson won four overall with them in his career, going on to play nearly 800 games. So, Hutson continuing on this pace is far from an indictment of his talent. It would be a further testament of his strength of character to have defied the odds so far. And if(when) he does score eventually? All it would do is shatter any biased illusion that Hutson is ineffective offensively.
The Canadiens win either way. And that must really piss them off.
