Lane Hutson has shown improvement in his overall game.
Lane Hutson is having a nice season. He’s only 20, he will turn 21 in February, and there’s always a lot of talk about his height but in my mind that became a moot point after I saw him in World Junior Camp last year in Plymouth, Michigan.
I’m not here to say he’s better than the 62nd overall pick in 2022. I had Hutson in my top 32 until the final week. Then I dropped him out of my first-round list and I didn’t do 45 that year. He probably would have been in that grouping for me. He was skinny, he wasn’t very effective defensively and he had things to work on for sure.
At World Junior camp, I saw him in person adding some real muscle to his frame. Offensively, he was always ahead of the curve. He has a great first pass, his skating is terrific and he has great hands and an accurate shot. What he didn’t have was a real way of defending other than having the puck more than anybody else.
He’s now averaging over 22 minutes a game and he’s a point off the rookie lead. He has a touch of physicality and his stick work is very good. That’s what helps him defend. He’s up to 17% defensive zone starts and that’s an improvement.
Martin St. Louis clearly likes what he sees and he’s rewarding his young rearguard. InStat has him winning 42% of his puck battles and that’s much better than I thought it would be.
Hutson is coming of age and he will still get better over time. The Canadiens are already being rewarded. They took him in a great spot in the draft and he’s paying them back.