In some ways, defenceman Lane Hutson encapsulates so much about the 2024-25 Montreal Canadiens. The 2022 second-round pick is young and has skills to boot, from speed to stick handling. Said youth also brings with it mistakes commonplace among inexperienced players. Hutson has featured prominently in all 10 of Montreal’s matches. How have things gone thus far? Let’s discuss.
Hutson Is a Minute Muncher
One thing is clear: head coach Martin St. Louis wants Hutson to play as much as possible. Part of that has to do with wanting to see what exactly he has in the 20-year-old from Illinois. The North Barrington native is logging 23:11 of ice time per game this season. With that number, it’s little surprise that he ranks first on the team in minutes, with fellow blueliner Mike Matheson coming in second with 22:28.
Some games saw him earn even more than that. In the Oct. 17 game at home to the Los Angeles Kings, Hutson enjoyed 30:05 of action. That’s right, over half the entire contest.
An interesting statistic stands out about his usage. Consider for a moment that the Canadiens have won four times this season. Three of those occasions – Oct. 9 versus the Toronto Maple Leafs, Oct. 12 versus the Ottawa Senators, and Oct. 27 away to the Philadelphia Flyers – were games during which Hutson logged less than his average.
Related: Montreal Canadiens’ Defensive Woes Holding Them Back
To be clear, the point of this article is not that using Hutson more translates to defeats for the Canadiens, even though that’s what it looks like. There are many circumstances that have encouraged St. Louis to put the defenceman back on the ice at a high rate. Most notably, injuries to Kaiden Guhle and Justin Barron have not helped.
Hutson’s Brilliant Skating
Honestly, among the rewards of having Hutson play so much is simply seeing him skate circles around opposing players and puck handle. It is genuinely a lot of fun. He is, bar none, the most gifted skater on the Canadiens’ roster. There are other strong skaters, like Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, but nobody on this team can generate an instant buzz in the crowd the second the puck lands on their stick.
It has been a long time since Habs supporters have enjoyed watching a player perform with such grace on the ice. Frankly, the last one was another defender, the fondly remembered P.K. Subban. When was the last time a Habs player – a defender, no less – did something like what Hutson tried in the first period of Tuesday’s (Oct. 29) defeat to the Seattle Kraken?
Lane Hutson was close to being all over SC tomorrow. He’s a one man breakout and zone entry. The edge work is on full display here and it is beautiful. pic.twitter.com/1KpZCMgx2R
— Rachel Doerrie (@racheldoerrie) October 29, 2024
Absolutely no one who enjoys hockey can watch that and remain non-plussed. Granted, he didn’t score, but it was a heck of an attempt, especially down 4-0. Hutson is so mesmeric when gliding down the ice that even in an 8-2 game, as was the case against the Kraken, Bell Centre patrons cheered when he received the puck (the person who took this video is saying in French: “Pass it to Hutson!”). It’s unclear what his teammates are supposed to feel about that (especially in an 8-2 game), but it’s also hard to begrudge Canadiens fans for emphasizing their support for one of the few players who merits it.
High Risk, High Reward
But we planted a seed in the opening paragraph. As exciting as Hutson is and as relatively useful as he has been (five points courtesy of five assists, 19 blocked shots, and a 47% Corsi), he is young and inexperienced.
As such, with the high rewards, high risks are tethered to them. His shooting is a little wild, with 55.6% of his shot attempts missing the net. He’s not a very physically imposing figure either. 5-foot-10 is by no means tall, even by non-hockey player, average Joe standards. He is by far the lightest defenceman, weighing in at 162 pounds. There are moments when, if the battle to defend is taking place in a somewhat stationary context (like a penalty kill), he gets pushed around.
His 13 giveaways are second on the team among all skaters. There was the infamous turnover in the first period on Oct. 22 versus the New York Rangers. There was another on Tuesday versus Seattle that nearly translated to another goal for the visitors.
Therein lies part of the rub with this bright young player. In fact, said rub is two-fold. First, he is coughing the puck up a lot. His exuberance when breaking out from Montreal’s zone is matched by opposing teams who are tactically sound and have decent skaters of their own. They pick Hutson’s pocket at the right moment, and off they go in the opposite direction.
Second, there are moments in games when it looks as if Hutson is too good. Yes, that sounds completely ridiculous. Why complain about a player’s skill level when the team needs all the help it can get? This isn’t truly a complaint, more an observation that he and his linemates haven’t fully gelled yet. He’ll pass to someone who isn’t ready for it, or he’s skating so fast around everybody that the other four Canadiens on the ice don’t seem to be on the same tactical page. Everything is still a work in progress. He is a work in progress, after all. More games and especially more practice will have teammates acquainted with Hutson’s style and vice versa.
These are but the growing pains of trying to insert a young, gifted player into a roster and develop him. His style is so beguiling that it’s easy to forget the American has only played 12 NHL games over two campaigns. There are moments when he tries to do too much. There are moments when he and his teammates seem to exist in different universes. But he’s also brilliant when the occasion presents itself and has even started pulling his weight on the penalty-killing unit. He’ll learn, as will the team. Right now, everybody is enjoying the kind of show that hasn’t been seen at the Bell Centre in years.
