Canadiens’ Hutson Leads The League In Unenviable Category

There’s a lot to like about Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson. The 22-year-old blueliner oozes talent, but he leads the league in a category he’d probably rather not: he’s the NHL’s lightest player at 162 pounds. This is hardly surprising, considering he’s also one of the smallest at 5-foot-9, but without that stature, he would have been long gone when the Habs picked him 62nd overall in the 2022 draft.

Hutson has learned to make the most of his small size, and it’s part of why he’s such a good skater and evades checks so well. He’s a smaller target to catch and one who’s very quick on his feet. On the backcheck, he doesn’t have 200 pounds of muscle to carry when he’s trying to catch up to a forward, and that’s a big part of his game. When he tries to make a play in the offensive zone and gets countered, he’s always the first player to chase down the opponent to make up for his mistake.

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The X account @NHL_Rosters lists the 11 lightest players in the league. Who joins Hutson? Gavin McKenna (164 pounds), Logan Stankoven (165 pounds), Jared Spurgeon (166 pounds), Maxim Shabanov (167 pounds), Nikolaj Ehlers (168 pounds), Bobby Brink (169 pounds), Denver Barkey (171 pounds), Jordan Binnington (172 pounds), Nikita Kucherov (172 pounds), and Matvei Michkov (172 pounds).

Interestingly, two of those 11 players became Stanley Cup champions last season (Stankoven and Ehlers), claiming the big prize with the Carolina Hurricanes, and two more also wear Cup rings (Binnington and Kucherov). Back in the 1990s, those players wouldn’t have thrived in the NHL, but those days are long gone. Today, the game’s all about skills and speed; it’s a young man’s game.

Hutson is not the only player on the Habs who’s on the lighter side. His current defence partner, Alexandre Carrier, is 5-foot-11 but only 174 pounds. Sniper Cole Caufield, who’s 5-foot-8, an inch shorter than Hutson, weighs in at just 175 pounds. Had it not been for his size, he wouldn’t have been available when the Habs drafted him 15th overall in the 2019 draft.

Could the Canadiens benefit from a bit more size and weight? Perhaps, but these players show that being undersized doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t have a successful NHL career. Hutson and Caufield are important parts of the Canadiens’ core.

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