I see the resemblance to Makar at the offensive blueline but that's where it ends for me. Makar is the total package.
I think the argument for Hutson would be "yeah he'll be a specialist, but an 80 point specialist".
HFBoards TOP 50 Prospects Ranking #17 (closed)
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I see the resemblance to Makar at the offensive blueline but that's where it ends for me. Makar is the total package.
I think the argument for Hutson would be "yeah he'll be a specialist, but an 80 point specialist".
I dont disagree that his defensive game may not be the greatest given his size, but if he becomes a poor man's Adam Fox or Quinn Hughes, thats pretty damn good in my book. And thats quite realistic imo.
I mean were at prospect #18 now too, we're past the sure fire 1st liners and potential franchise Dmen. Hutson's ceiling is as high as anyone in the options, if not first.
Voted Leonard - huge fan. But Reinbacher winning is fine.
Hutson is a fantastic college player - on the shortlist of biggest impact freshman blueliners this century. There are absolutely reasons to be concerned about his transition at the highest level in terms of him projecting as a top pairing star. You can put together a mad sizzle reel for him but you can also put together a reel of him getting roasted at the WC’s. He’s an ok skater but he’s nowhere close to a Makar or a Hughes brother. His height is fine but his is very lightweight still. For me a realistic projection - contextually, not just blindly saying “well his stats are this at this age so he’s going to be better than so and so” is a second pairing minutes defender who is sheltered and paired with a very strong defensive partner but can absolutely rip open lower QoC matchups with scintillating skill and IQ.
That’s a strong, strong prospect and a steal where the Habs got him but not IMO the level of some of the absolute horses we are examining at this poll - including his future teammate in Reinbacher.
Hutson is a fantastic college player - on the shortlist of biggest impact freshman blueliners this century. There are absolutely reasons to be concerned about his transition at the highest level in terms of him projecting as a top pairing star. You can put together a mad sizzle reel for him but you can also put together a reel of him getting roasted at the WC’s. He’s an ok skater but he’s nowhere close to a Makar or a Hughes brother. His height is fine but his is very lightweight still. For me a realistic projection - contextually, not just blindly saying “well his stats are this at this age so he’s going to be better than so and so” is a second pairing minutes defender who is sheltered and paired with a very strong defensive partner but can absolutely rip open lower QoC matchups with scintillating skill and IQ.
That’s a strong, strong prospect and a steal where the Habs got him but not IMO the level of some of the absolute horses we are examining at this poll - including his future teammate in Reinbacher.
I agree with most of what you say here. But the comparison with Reinbacher, yes DR is the safer bet to be a regular top pairing NHLer, and even has the higher floor, but I believe Hutson has the higher ceiling of the two. Personally Im just betting on Hutson being the slightly better Dman. Even though Reinbacher may be better defensively, its like comparing say Karlsson with Doughty in their primes. Some preferred EK , some DD, but they were close overall.
I mean, they are all prospects so we shall see nothing is certain. I think Reinbacher is much more likely to be a top pairing, all-weather defenseman at even strength and to me that’s where the highest impact is made to a championship team. I think there’s a realistic chance Hutson becomes a guy who, on a point-per-minute basis has some crazy astronomical production levels but his overall totals and impact could get potentially neutered by usage. I just have a hard time envisioning him out there for 22+ minutes a night against the hardest, biggest and baddest lines the other team has. And I don’t think at this point in his projection that would be a very smart usage of him. Let Reinbacher and Guhle do the heavy lifting and then unleash Hutson in a theoretical Habs future blueline.
