Prospect Info: [2022 - 62nd] Lane Hutson (NCAA - Boston University)

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durojean

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May 29, 2007
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I think we are all enjoying it but some posters are taking it too far and simply need to be brought back to reality. Hutson is hella fun to watch when he has the puck but there are still very legitimate concerns with his game. He is super young and is a tenacious competitor so I would not bet against him but until he proves that his game will translate against bigger faster players like the one's who gave him a terrible time at the WJC's in his own end I will suppress any over the top enthusiasm.

For some reason people get their panties in a knot when faced with objective analysis but they shouldn't as I was glad when we picked him and am just as happy with the pick today. I just consider him more of a project than others who think he is on the verge of NHL stardom. If Lane can add significant mass and make significant improvement to his explosiveness/acceleration and pivots/backskating. He may very well be a star in the making but he is not very close to NHL calibre in these areas at this point. I expect him to play at least another season of college hockey and is likely 3 years away from the NHL if he can make enough gains on his weaknesses.

Everyone was telling me Slafkovsky did not lack hockey iq. That he would be dominating.

This year, he looked worst than KK and Galchenyuk.

Everyone redoing the draft just one year in are already putting him where he sould have been drafted.

What I see right know from Hutson in the games I watched.

Hockey IQ to the roof.
Skills to the roof too.
Skating is awkward but still effective.

While he does have some problems containing big forward, he's got easily the best first pass and is the better player to actually get the puck out of his zone because he is reading the play so well. The impact that have on the team is that the team is a lot more in control of the puck when he is on the ice then when he is not.

What St-Louis said... Defence is not only in the defensive zone. He plays really good defence everywhere on the ice which get him and his team more control.

When the puck is on his stick... something happen, that little "je ne sais quoi", that I've never seen with Slaf... well, Hutson's got it in spades.
 

Wats

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Mar 8, 2006
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He should be 170ish by next year. NCAA is going to do nothing new for him.

How about improving defensively and increasing his strength even further with the lower game schedule. Players have jumped from NCAA to NHL just fine after dominating it for 2 years. Only real time we see issues is when players are brought up too early.

I understand the rush to wanting to see the guy but the logic to bring players up faster. We have Slaf who did nothing special in lower leagues but big so bring him up. Now Hutson who's doing special things at 18 but tiny as they come, also bring him up. Beck who plays pro game and looked like he can hold his own in NHL slowing down since bring traded in OHL, bring him up.
 
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Adam Michaels

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Jun 12, 2016
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He should be 170ish by next year. NCAA is going to do nothing new for him.

Offensively it might not be anything new for him. But he could still focus on improving other aspects of his game. Caufield playing the second year of NCAA helped him in other areas. He didn't need to learn anything new offensively going back a second year.
 

tooji

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Nov 24, 2015
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It’s just wild to me that he’s doing this in the NCAA. The fact that he’s dominating while being slight and not an insane skater just shows how much more talent he has than everyone else. If he bulks up and works on his explosiveness and backward skating this kid will be an absolute home run
 

BaseballCoach

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Dec 15, 2006
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There are several smallish D that are thriving in this era of the NHL. The days of Dmen clutching, hooking and holding are gone.
Lane will get bigger and stronger as he matures into a young man.

Makes no sense that no team wanted to take a flier on him until 62nd.
Reminds me of 14 teams passing up on an elite young goal scorer because he was 5'7.
Nothing beats 14 (!) passes on a player who was 6'0 tall, had just spent 4 years in Junior scoring over 1 GOAL PER GAME, and proceeded to score 50 goals or more for 9 straight NHL seasons starting with his rookie season (with 5 of those seasons over 60 goals) ??

How about improving defensively and increasing his strength even further with the lower game schedule. Players have jumped from NCAA to NHL just fine after dominating it for 2 years. Only real time we see issues is when players are brought up too early.

I understand the rush to wanting to see the guy but the logic to bring players up faster. We have Slaf who did nothing special in lower leagues but big so bring him up. Now Hutson who's doing special things at 18 but tiny as they come, also bring him up. Beck who plays pro game and looked like he can hold his own in NHL slowing down since bring traded in OHL, bring him up.
My proposal is to bring Hutson up to the AHL for 1-2 years and give him a reduced schedule to start, say 55 games with no back to backs.

He would hit the NHL at 20 or 21 depending on his progress.
 

BaseballCoach

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Offensively it might not be anything new for him. But he could still focus on improving other aspects of his game. Caufield playing the second year of NCAA helped him in other areas. He didn't need to learn anything new offensively going back a second year.
While he could learn some things in the NCAA, I think Hutson will benefit more from the Habs' world class development group. However, it is important they not overload him with games to start his first year. There are plenty of other D to give minutes to in Laval, so it should not be an issue.
 

SlafySZN

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May 21, 2022
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Another week, another award for Hutson:


I am starting to have some real concerns about Hutson’s character. It seems there is a heightened level of selfishness, a deep desire not to share individual awards such as rookie of the week/month, player of the month, conference player of the week and so on.
 
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Kudo Shinichi

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Apr 20, 2012
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Offensively it might not be anything new for him. But he could still focus on improving other aspects of his game. Caufield playing the second year of NCAA helped him in other areas. He didn't need to learn anything new offensively going back a second year.

Caufield improved his offensive game, and Hutson can too. It doesn't need to be anything major. It can just be improving the details of what you're already good at.

For example, this is one of the things Caufield improved from his 1st NCAA year to his 2nd:

1675699771359.png


 
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morhilane

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Feb 28, 2021
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My proposal is to bring Hutson up to the AHL for 1-2 years and give him a reduced schedule to start, say 55 games with no back to backs.

He would hit the NHL at 20 or 21 depending on his progress.
That wouldn't happen, the coach would slot him to replace injuries and play him more than planned because he wants to win and Hutson helps the team scoring even if he has weaknesses to work on.
 
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Adam Michaels

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While he could learn some things in the NCAA, I think Hutson will benefit more from the Habs' world class development group. However, it is important they not overload him with games to start his first year. There are plenty of other D to give minutes to in Laval, so it should not be an issue.

Let him stay at BU where he'll be their #1D. He's currently playing on the second pair. He'll be their go-to guy. Let him carry that torch for a season and see where he is after that. One more year in the NCAA could be that little extra he'll need to be a little more pro ready.

With Mailloux and Struble turning pro next year, plus having Trudeau taking strides in Laval this year and will be back for his second season, they'll have young prospects to focus on in Laval and they can let Hutson continue to marinate.
 

Adam Michaels

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Jun 12, 2016
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My proposal is to bring Hutson up to the AHL for 1-2 years and give him a reduced schedule to start, say 55 games with no back to backs.

He would hit the NHL at 20 or 21 depending on his progress.

If you're going to give him a reduced schedule in Laval, might as well give him the full schedule in the NCAA, where as I mentioned in my previous post, he'll be BU's #1D..

If he's in Laval, he should play the full schedule like the rest of the team.
 

BaseballCoach

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Let him stay at BU where he'll be their #1D. He's currently playing on the second pair. He'll be their go-to guy. Let him carry that torch for a season and see where he is after that. One more year in the NCAA could be that little extra he'll need to be a little more pro ready.

With Mailloux and Struble turning pro next year, plus having Trudeau taking strides in Laval this year and will be back for his second season, they'll have young prospects to focus on in Laval and they can let Hutson continue to marinate.
It's not a terrible idea, but I just believe being in the Habs org would be better.

No biggie. Hutson may not agree to turn pro and make an AHL salary anyway.

If you're going to give him a reduced schedule in Laval, might as well give him the full schedule in the NCAA, where as I mentioned in my previous post, he'll be BU's #1D..

If he's in Laval, he should play the full schedule like the rest of the team.
Well, the rest of the team does not always play a full schedule either. They carry more than 6 defencemen.
 

WeThreeKings

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Sep 19, 2006
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Makar returned for his sophomore year and he said that made all of the differences. No way Hutson doesn't play one or maybe 2 more years in the NCAA. I am thinking he turns pro after his sophomore year.

I think the pull to put him in the NHL to help our powerplay would be too strong if we have him in the AHL next season.

Another year in the NCAA. Sign and play a few NHL games to end the season and then evaluate at training camp.
 

BaseballCoach

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Makar returned for his sophomore year and he said that made all of the differences. No way Hutson doesn't play one or maybe 2 more years in the NCAA. I am thinking he turns pro after his sophomore year.
Makar in his first season was scoring at half the rate Hutson is. he went over ppg in his second year.

Makar came up at the end of his sophomore season.

I don't think Hutson can do that. He needs time in the AHL. If it were up to me, and he agreed, I would start this coming fall, but I get it if he does not want to come out early for an AHL salary. Still, he will probably have to go through Laval even if he stays in the NCAA longer, treading water to at least a partial degree.
 
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26Mats

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Jun 23, 2018
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Makar in his first season was scoring at half the rate Hutson is. he went over ppg in his second year.

Makar came up at the end of his sophomore season.

I don't think Hutson can do that. He needs time in the AHL. If it were up to me, and he agreed, I would start this coming fall, but I get it if he does not want to come out early for an AHL salary. Still, he will probably have to go through Laval even if he stays in the NCAA longer, treading water to at least a partial degree.

I worry more about him getting injured in the AHL next year because he's too small, than I worry about him dominating the NCAA by so much that he doesn't learn much.

A) Even if he is a dominant two way dman, he'll gain experience playing that role.
B) I'm sure he can learn a lot at least on the defensive end.
C) He can partake in a more rigorous weight training program in the NCAA because of the lighter schedule.
 

JianYang

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Sep 29, 2017
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I worry more about him getting injured in the AHL next year because he's too small, than I worry about him dominating the NCAA by so much that he doesn't learn much.

A) Even if he is a dominant two way dman, he'll gain experience playing that role.
B) I'm sure he can learn a lot at least on the defensive end.
C) He can partake in a more rigorous weight training program in the NCAA because of the lighter schedule.

We see prospects get damaged far too often in this sport, where potentially promising careers are either cut short or cut out altogether.

So when a smaller guy is still working on becoming physically mature I'm also inclined to take things more slowly. Therefore, I have no problem with him sticking it out on the ncaa until it is apparent that he won't won't make big leaps in strength anymore.

The AHL and NHL are leagues of men, and you might as well prepare him as much as reasonably possible from a physical standpoint in order to give the club the best shot at maximizing on his value for years to come.
 

26Mats

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Jun 23, 2018
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We see prospects get damaged far too often in this sport, where potentially promising careers are either cut short or cut out altogether.

So when a smaller guy is still working on becoming physically mature I'm also inclined to take things more slowly. Therefore, I have no problem with him sticking it out on the ncaa until it is apparent that he won't won't make big leaps in strength anymore.

The AHL and NHL are leagues of men, and you might as well prepare him as much as reasonably possible from a physical standpoint in order to give the club the best shot at maximizing on his value for years to come.

This, this, this.
 
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