On Tuesday, it was announced that Montreal Canadiens’ defenseman Lane Hutson was the Calder Trophy winner as the top rookie in the league. It had been 53 years since a Hab had won the coveted trophy, but it’s also pretty rare that a blueliner wins it.

While winning the rookie of the year doesn’t guarantee long-term success, it’s generally an excellent indication of how special a player is. The past winners, who were defensemen, have had quite impressive careers: Kent Douglas, Jacques Laperrière, Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin, Raymond Bourque, Gary Suter, Brian Leetch, Bryan Berard, Barrett Jackman, Tyler Myers, Aaron Ekblad, Cale Makar, and Moritz Seider.

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The list also shows us that Hutson is just the second Canadiens defenseman to win the trophy. Numerous current and former Habs took to social media yesterday to congratulate the youngster: Cole Caufield, Patrick Laine, Arber Xhekaj, Nick Suzuki, and P.K. Subban all made Instagram posts. Suzuki’s was probably the funniest, since the captain captioned it ”Shocking”.

Caufield trolled his young teammate on the NHL’s post, however, simply writing: “I can’t believe I wasn’t invited to that”, talking about the friends and family party in which Hutson was given the award. In Hutson’s defense, he wasn’t the one who organized the gathering, and watching how uncomfortable he felt in the spotlight, his parents were right to keep the guest list short.

Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images

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