Lane Hutson potential impact

[BoHorvat 53]

Voted Quinn Hughes but apparently it's a very unpopular option.

I have no idea how anyone can think of Gostisbehere while watching Hutson. Or Krug. Shrug.

It's about potential impact.

If Canadiens fans are seriously expecting Norris level impact from Hutson, you guys are easily the most unhinged fanbase in the league, and are setting the kid up for failure.

 

[biturbo19]

It's about potential impact.

If Canadiens fans are seriously expecting Norris level impact from Hutson, you guys are easily the most unhinged fanbase in the league, and are setting the kid up for failure.

Heck...i didn't even expect Norris level impact from Quin Hughes as a prospect. Or even young player in the NHL. His development has been exceptional. There aren't many guys with his profile who turn out anywhere remotely near that good. He's a bit of a unicorn...and has always had a significant edge on Hutson in his all-around game to begin with, as well as the superlative skating that is just on another level. Plus his just absolutely insane competitiveness and drive to get better.

 

[The Kingslayer]

He moves like Hughes. I see him being like Ghost which is not bad at all.

 

[Dead Coyote]

I think he'll have the same impact as a guy like Yandle or Krug did, if everything goes well. He could exceed that, but he'll likely never have an impact like Makar or Hughes or Fox. He's just not that good defensively. I hope he succeeds but the likelihood is that he'll be a PP specialist and all offense player who makes boneheaded mistakes and can't handle NHL guys well defensively.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

I think he'll have the same impact as a guy like Yandle or Krug did, if everything goes well. He could exceed that, but he'll likely never have an impact like Makar or Hughes or Fox. He's just not that good defensively. I hope he succeeds but the likelihood is that he'll be a PP specialist and all offense player who makes boneheaded mistakes and can't handle NHL guys well defensively.

Hutson isn't even bad defensively... Just because he's an offensive dman, it doesn't mean he's a liability defensively. His defensive problems will come due to his size limitation, not due to him not knowing how to play defense. At the same age, Hutson was far better defensively than Hughes.

 

[biturbo19]

Hutson isn't even bad defensively... Just because he's an offensive dman, it doesn't mean he's a liability defensively. His defensive problems will come due to his size limitation, not due to him not knowing how to play defense. At the same age, Hutson was far better defensively than Hughes.

Hutson's defensive problems definitely come from him not paying attention to his defensive responsibilities. He's a complete rover, and often not in a very responsible way. The size limitations are definitely not helping in that regard, but it's the flagrant disregard for positional integrity, gap control, or proper puck management that are the root of Hutson's defensive lapses. And they're honestly pretty darn bad. He's a very weak defensive player in pretty much every aspect of it.

He's a very difficult defenceman to play with, because he freelances so frequently. It makes him hard to read off of and unpredictable even to his own teammates. He's just not very good at playing "within the system". He's often a real "one man show" on the ice. Even before he started to further develop his defensive game, that was never a real problem with Quin Hughes. He was always fine positionally, just passive and physically weak. A far more sound defensive foundation than what Hutson is coming out of college with.

 

[ricky0034]

Makar? Hughes? Fox?

maybe if you combine those bums

 

[General Fanager]

Some really silly takes on both sides in this thread. No one knows what he will end up being but there are a lot of guys here claiming their opinion is fact. So silly.

Its clear that he has overcome his size disadvantage and excelled at every level so far. Why cant he do it at the next level also? Its obvious the talent is there.

I think he will be a really good one for The Habs. Predicting which one of those guys he will compare too....far far too soon.

 

[General Fanager]

Hutson's defensive problems definitely come from him not paying attention to his defensive responsibilities. He's a complete rover, and often not in a very responsible way. The size limitations are definitely not helping in that regard, but it's the flagrant disregard for positional integrity, gap control, or proper puck management that are the root of Hutson's defensive lapses. And they're honestly pretty darn bad. He's a very weak defensive player in pretty much every aspect of it.

He's a very difficult defenceman to play with, because he freelances so frequently. It makes him hard to read off of and unpredictable even to his own teammates. He's just not very good at playing "within the system". He's often a real "one man show" on the ice. Even before he started to further develop his defensive game, that was never a real problem with Quin Hughes. He was always fine positionally, just passive and physically weak. A far more sound defensive foundation than what Hutson is coming out of college with.

The Habs don't need to him to be a top line shut down guy. They have Guhle for that. If they can get Hutson to be even average defensively while still giving him the freedom to create offensively...that's going to be amazing for Habs fans.....

 

[WentWughes]

May not be as good defensively and not as great of a skater but the closest I will say is Hughes. The kid has 70+ point season potential all day and if he can have a strong supporting cast he may be able to crack point per game a few seasons in his peak. May sound like a hot take but I recall message boards when PK Subban was just starting his career and the laughable down play of his potential other fans were stating. He will be underrated by other fanbases until he is undeniable, the good news is he will become undeniable relatively quickly.

 

[Junohockeyfan]

Sam Girard

Girard size yes. But Lane has elite offense potential. Girard not so much!

 

[amnesiac]

The Habs don't need to him to be a top line shut down guy. They have Guhle for that. If they can get Hutson to be even average defensively while still giving him the freedom to create offensively...that's going to be amazing for Habs fans.....

He wont play with Guhle though, both are LHD. Will probably be Reinbacher, possibly Mailloux depending on chemistry.

 

[thefutures]

Hes the next mike matheson. Jk. The range between makar and ghost is pretty vast. He looks like a potential star player if he continues to improve. Getting better is not always garunteed but I don't see why he can't.

 

[amnesiac]

Hutson's defensive problems definitely come from him not paying attention to his defensive responsibilities. He's a complete rover, and often not in a very responsible way. The size limitations are definitely not helping in that regard, but it's the flagrant disregard for positional integrity, gap control, or proper puck management that are the root of Hutson's defensive lapses. And they're honestly pretty darn bad. He's a very weak defensive player in pretty much every aspect of it.

He's a very difficult defenceman to play with, because he freelances so frequently. It makes him hard to read off of and unpredictable even to his own teammates. He's just not very good at playing "within the system". He's often a real "one man show" on the ice. Even before he started to further develop his defensive game, that was never a real problem with Quin Hughes. He was always fine positionally, just passive and physically weak. A far more sound defensive foundation than what Hutson is coming out of college with.

Cant say I agree at all..... for one, the kid played on the PK in the World Juniors. Its not as if they didnt have any other option, as they had the BEST U20 American Dmen to choose from.

Second, there was no talk of any defensive issues at BU this past year. You dont get nominated for the HB 2 years in a row if youre bad defensively as a Dman.... and if there were, his +/- relative to his teammates wouldve been noticeably lower. It was not.

That said, given his style of play, yes hes bound to get caught pinching from time to time in his first few seasons. Reminds me of Subban a lot in that regard. That will be up to a winger to cover him, and he'll learn with experience when/when not to take those chances better.... but not letting Hutson carry the puck in the O zone would be a DISadvantage to the Habs offense, and he needs to utilise that skill. Would be a total waste otherwise.

In the end its a question of developing his hockey IQ, and like Hughes, theres no reason to think he cant be a better all around Dman after a few years experience. Hes definitely smarter than a Krug or Ghost, imo.

 

[QJL]

I don’t like any of these options. He will be worse than the future Hall of Fame superstars and better than the regular guys.

 

[Junohockeyfan]

If Lane can play 2nd pairing quality D while providing offense from the backside and QB the PP, that’s all i hope for.

 

[Bouboumaster]

Not even in his rookie season and he's already PPG

 

[biturbo19]

The Habs don't need to him to be a top line shut down guy. They have Guhle for that. If they can get Hutson to be even average defensively while still giving him the freedom to create offensively...that's going to be amazing for Habs fans.....

That's cool. Good for Montreal. They don't need Hutson to be that top matchup defenceman. Because they have Guhle (who i'm extremely high on) and Reinbacher is probably gonna be solid too.

But this is asking about Hutson's "potential impact". To which...i'd project it as more similar to someone like Ghost, as a "2nd pairing offensive D and PP Specialist". Not a top pair matchup defenceman like Quin Hughes for example, as many are comparing him to...simply because he's small and offensively gifted. Ignoring...all the other stuff about their respective games, comparatively speaking.



I'm just saying...out of these choices, i don't see Hutson ever breaking through as that true top pairing, matchup defenceman like Makar/Hughes. He's got a lot more "upside" offensively than Krug/Girard...but still less reliable defensive acumen as a starting point. Ghost is the closest projection among these options in "role and impact", despite being a poor stylistic comparable. Something in that Ghostisbehere/Barrie type vein. If he makes it.

Cant say I agree at all..... for one, the kid played on the PK in the World Juniors. Its not as if they didnt have any other option, as they had the BEST U20 American Dmen to choose from.

Second, there was no talk of any defensive issues at BU this past year. You dont get nominated for the HB 2 years in a row if youre bad defensively as a Dman.... and if there were, his +/- relative to his teammates wouldve been noticeably lower. It was not.

That said, given his style of play, yes hes bound to get caught pinching from time to time in his first few seasons. Reminds me of Subban a lot in that regard. That will be up to a winger to cover him, and he'll learn with experience when/when not to take those chances better.... but not letting Hutson carry the puck in the O zone would be a DISadvantage to the Habs offense, and he needs to utilise that skill. Would be a total waste otherwise.

In the end its a question of developing his hockey IQ, and like Hughes, theres no reason to think he cant be a better all around Dman after a few years experience. Hes definitely smarter than a Krug or Ghost, imo.

I mean, playing on the PK is a piss poor estimation of overall 5v5 defensive play. They're completely separate phases of the game. With completely different demands.

As far as "no talk of defensive issues" at BU this past year...you'd have to have had your ears plugged and eyes closed, to have not come across critique of his roving style...which continued in full force. He's extremely talented offensively and for better or worse, becomes an absolute focal point of his teams at that level. The issue is...whether he'll be able to rein that in to play a more structured, team-oriented "Pro Style" game...without neutering the thing that he actually does do well.

Because you're right, in that carrying the puck in the offensive zone (heck, every zone) is so absolutely critical to Hutson's game. It's his main operational method. It's his most dominant trait and skillset. Problem is...that's often very difficult to integrate with NHL defensive systems and a real "team game". It tends to be very difficult to play with. And it tends to carry a very high threshold of almost "pass/fail" performance for coaches. Whether the "risks" and adjustments to the rest of the team and system are worth the "rewards" in productivity and overall team results to just give them a "green light" to play outside the system and carry the puck wherever and whenever they want.

 

[canuckslover10]

idk if hes gonna reach hughes level but he definitely plays like him.

 

[CanadienShark]

Not sure I understand the question. Are you ranking players here or making a stylistic comparison? He doesn't play like any of them. He has the potential to be in the tier of Makar/Hughes/Fox, who all belong in the same tier. Very long shot to get there, but he has that potential.

 

[Ace Card Bedard]

Girard size yes. But Lane has elite offense potential. Girard not so much!

Sure we can say that now but coming out of juniors Gerard was certainly considered to have great scoring potential.

 

[Breakers]

He plays like Hughes with the creativity in the offensive one
skating isn't close on the transition part. Hughes was in the 100Th percentile in transition
same with edge work

but hutson's stick handling is better

Martin St Louis has to clean up his shift length which became a problem at BU but that is literally countless prospects who deal with that problem, as you can't be doing these massive shifts in the NHL especially as a defense and leaving your partner hanging out to dry.

 

[amnesiac]

Sure we can say that now but coming out of juniors Gerard was certainly considered to have great scoring potential.

theres quite a gap between NCAA vs QMJHL

NCAA has become the best "junior" (pre-draft) league quite easily in the past decade or so

 

[General Fanager]

Not even in his rookie season and he's already PPG

Mailloux also....

 

[dgibb10]

That's cool. Good for Montreal. They don't need Hutson to be that top matchup defenceman. Because they have Guhle (who i'm extremely high on) and Reinbacher is probably gonna be solid too.

But this is asking about Hutson's "potential impact". To which...i'd project it as more similar to someone like Ghost, as a "2nd pairing offensive D and PP Specialist". Not a top pair matchup defenceman like Quin Hughes for example, as many are comparing him to...simply because he's small and offensively gifted. Ignoring...all the other stuff about their respective games, comparatively speaking.



I'm just saying...out of these choices, i don't see Hutson ever breaking through as that true top pairing, matchup defenceman like Makar/Hughes. He's got a lot more "upside" offensively than Krug/Girard...but still less reliable defensive acumen as a starting point. Ghost is the closest projection among these options in "role and impact", despite being a poor stylistic comparable. Something in that Ghostisbehere/Barrie type vein. If he makes it.



I mean, playing on the PK is a piss poor estimation of overall 5v5 defensive play. They're completely separate phases of the game. With completely different demands.

As far as "no talk of defensive issues" at BU this past year...you'd have to have had your ears plugged and eyes closed, to have not come across critique of his roving style...which continued in full force. He's extremely talented offensively and for better or worse, becomes an absolute focal point of his teams at that level. The issue is...whether he'll be able to rein that in to play a more structured, team-oriented "Pro Style" game...without neutering the thing that he actually does do well.

Because you're right, in that carrying the puck in the offensive zone (heck, every zone) is so absolutely critical to Hutson's game. It's his main operational method. It's his most dominant trait and skillset. Problem is...that's often very difficult to integrate with NHL defensive systems and a real "team game". It tends to be very difficult to play with. And it tends to carry a very high threshold of almost "pass/fail" performance for coaches. Whether the "risks" and adjustments to the rest of the team and system are worth the "rewards" in productivity and overall team results to just give them a "green light" to play outside the system and carry the puck wherever and whenever they want.

So many people see a player get put on the PK and use it to make sweeping generalizations about their D. doesn't matter how much time, how good they are, or the fact that it doesn't have anything to do with the rest of their games. Player on PK=good defensively