Player Discussion The Curious Case of Benjamin Hutton (Part II)

[me2]

Can't stop laughing, omg Jake...

why did he even bother

 

[polarbearcub]

So.. How about this kid.. On pace for 22 points over an 82 in his rookie year straight outta college. I think he has a big offensive upside.

What is his potential ceiling? Top 4 Max? Number 2 guy?

He reminds me a lot of Duncan Keith stylistically. And once he gains more Confidence and experience , I can't wait to see what this kid can do.

 

[Scorvat]

Out of all the young guys that have played for the Canucks this season he has impressed me the most. In the beginning of the year you could see the offensive potential, but the defence at that time was almost Weber like. He was being beaten outside, out muscled in front of the net, lost at how to handle a 2 on 1, abused by the forecheck, and his physicality was almost non existent.

His injury was a blessing in disguise because after that defensive issues seemed to improve. Now he has earned PK time and is getting trusted to be on in the last few minutes to protect a lead. All of his defensive issue have improved and he has improved the most over the year out of all the young guys

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

So.. How about this kid.. On pace for 22 points over an 82 in his rookie year straight outta college. I think he has a big offensive upside.

What is his potential ceiling? Top 4 Max? Number 2 guy?

He reminds me a lot of Duncan Keith stylistically. And once he gains more Confidence and experience , I can't wait to see what this kid can do.

I think he is potentially an even better Ehrhoff, so Id say a 55-60 top pair guy.

 

[VanJack]

Out of all the young guys that have played for the Canucks this season he has impressed me the most. In the beginning of the year you could see the offensive potential, but the defence at that time was almost Weber like. He was being beaten outside, out muscled in front of the net, lost at how to handle a 2 on 1, abused by the forecheck, and his physicality was almost non existent.

His injury was a blessing in disguise because after that defensive issues seemed to improve. Now he has earned PK time and is getting trusted to be on in the last few minutes to protect a lead. All of his defensive issue have improved and he has improved the most over the year out of all the young guys

Totally agree with this...some posters obsess over Virtanen, McCann, Horvat and Baertschi, but Hutton is playing a far more demanding position and just keeps growing as an impact d-man....he's been "the biggest story" among the Canuck youngsters this season imo.

 

[ahmon]

I actually feel he kinda lost a bit of his creativity early in the season.
His short passes to evade the forecheck, spins and fakes to evade pressure, rushing the puck, those are all excellent qualities.

I understand he is learning to play a safer game to minimize error.

As he develops, he needs to combine the safe game and the creative side, to the point where he can pick his spots and become a dman who can control the pace of a game.

He has high potential, let's see if he can develop into that top end defenseman.

 

[polarbearcub]

I actually feel he kinda lost a bit of his creativity early in the season.
His short passes to evade the forecheck, spins and fakes to evade pressure, rushing the puck, those are all excellent qualities.

I understand he is learning to play a safer game to minimize error.

As he develops, he needs to combine the safe game and the creative side, to the point where he can pick his spots and become a dman who can control the pace of a game.

He has high potential, let's see if he can develop into that top end defenseman.

After the game Ben mentioned he wants to jump in play and be more offensive. I agree he lost some of that creativity for a while but I feel he's bern doing more of it lately.

Kids a beauty

 

[tyhee]

So.. How about this kid.. On pace for 22 points over an 82 in his rookie year straight outta college. I think he has a big offensive upside.

What is his potential ceiling? Top 4 Max? Number 2 guy?
...

There is of course a huge difference between the upper limit of a player's potential (his ceiling) and a reasonable estimate of what he'll achieve.

I don't see much in the way of limits on his potential ceiling. Add some weight to his frame and get him more experience and he has a chance to be really, really good.

Otoh, #2 guy isn't an unreasonable estimate of what he's likely to achieve.

 

[Josepho]

Whoever said something along the lines of "Hutton's offensive instincts are like Tanev's defensive instincts when he entered the league" couldn't have been more correct.

 

[Addison Rae]

He really needs to be on the first unit power play and should get more shifts with the Sedins, he's already the best offensive dman in the organization.

 

[Rosko Thorn]

I have a strange feeling that Hutton-Tanev is our future top pairing.

 

[GrogZilla]

Looked up Canucks rookie defencemen scoring history.
It really emphasizes how poor our home grown D have been. Ryan Stanton & his 16 points is the 5th best total all time.
Hutton really is a gift from the hockey gods, no limit on how good he can become.

1 Mattias Ohlund 1997-1998 VAN D 77 7 23 30
2 Jiri Slegr 1992-1993 VAN D 41 4 22 26
3 Alexander Edler 2007-2008 VAN D 75 8 12 20
4 Adrian Aucoin 1995-1996 VAN D 49 4 14 18
5 Ryan Stanton 2013-2014 VAN D 64 1 15 16

 

[MS]

Looked up Canucks rookie defencemen scoring history.
It really emphasizes how poor our home grown D have been. Ryan Stanton & his 16 points is the 5th best total all time.
Hutton really is a gift from the hockey gods, no limit on how good he can become.

1 Mattias Ohlund 1997-1998 VAN D 77 7 23 30
2 Jiri Slegr 1992-1993 VAN D 41 4 22 26
3 Alexander Edler 2007-2008 VAN D 75 8 12 20
4 Adrian Aucoin 1995-1996 VAN D 49 4 14 18
5 Ryan Stanton 2013-2014 VAN D 64 1 15 16

This list only seems to go from the 1990s onward. Off the top of my head, Doug Lidster, JJ Daigneault, Dale Tallon, Bob Dailey, and Jocelyn Guevremont all had enough points to be on this list.

 

[opendoor]

This list only seems to go from the 1990s onward. Off the top of my head, Doug Lidster, JJ Daigneault, Dale Tallon, Bob Dailey, and Jocelyn Guevremont all had enough points to be on this list.

Yeah, here's a list of Canuck rookie defensemen to put up 10+ points:

http://www.hockey-reference.com/pla...c4comp=gt&c4val=&threshhold=5&order_by=points

 

[Hit the post]

This list only seems to go from the 1990s onward. Off the top of my head, Doug Lidster, JJ Daigneault, Dale Tallon, Bob Dailey, and Jocelyn Guevremont all had enough points to be on this list.

I thought Rick Lanz had a fairly impressive start; thought he'd have a longer career in the NHL - though I seem to remember injuries might have played a factor in that. At the very least, was a good translator when Milford acquired Hlinka & Bubla.

 

[Nucker101]

He's already a decent dman and has a bright future ahead if he continues to progress. Was awesome to see him finally score his 1st!

 

[Jyrki21]

His injury was a blessing in disguise because after that defensive issues seemed to improve. Now he has earned PK time and is getting trusted to be on in the last few minutes to protect a lead. All of his defensive issue have improved and he has improved the most over the year out of all the young guys

Because of there only being 6 defensemen dressed at a time, I don't think Hutton was ever getting the Virtanen-McCann-Bärtschi treatment of simply getting benched in the third period. So with Willie, all this really means is Hutton's pairing was up next, so he was thrown out there whenever it was their turn (like the Sbieksa issues last playoffs). He just rolls his lines in order – I don't know if it's really indicative of much else.

 

[Horse McHindu]

I've been extremely impressed with Hutton.

I think the big key for the Canucks is to develop Hutton slowly and keep playing him in roles that he's adequate for. Once he proves worthy of playing larger roles and more minutes, then you can move vets like Hamhuis or Edler.

One thing I do NOT want the Canucks to do, is trade Hamhuis or Edler at the trade deadline this year. Doing this will force Hutton to take on more responsibilities and I think this will have an adverse effect on his development.

If guys like Hutton are to properly develop, I think you need to keep Edler, Hamhuis, and Tanev.

All in all though, I've been very impressed with Hutton this season. Horvat, Markstrom, Hutton, and McCann all look like future core pieces to me. Even Virtanen, who has struggled this year, looks like his heart is in the right place. Baertschi has also slowly and steadily improved, while showing flashes of a 200 foot game that I didn't think existed.

 

[WTG]

Just a little update on Hutton statistically

Hutton is also 19th in the league in even strength Primary assists/60 and 42nd in the league in points per 60 even strength. 30th in GA/60 even strength.

Out of players that have played 500 minutes of even strength

 

[polarbearcub]

^ nice !

Hutton is a joy to watch. Could watch him skate miles. Still has lots to learn and needs to polish in many areas , but once he polishes those rough areas he's gonna take off

 

[StIllmatic]

He played the most minutes on our team yesterday and looked good doing it. Belongs on the first unit pp.

 

[sting101]

^ nice !

Hutton is a joy to watch. Could watch him skate miles. Still has lots to learn and needs to polish in many areas , but once he polishes those rough areas he's gonna take off

I agree with all the compliments.....this guy is a joy.

Countless fakes, poise, quick feet and stick. Speed to join the rush, saucers through traffic....He really has it all.....let's hope he doesn't have any development set backs and continues to get stronger more confident and start really firing the puck more.

He's got #1 upside.....but will face bigger challenges as he inherits more responsibility.....should be really fun to watch for a long time.

 

[M2Beezy]

Just a little update on Hutton statistically

Hutton is also 19th in the league in even strength Primary assists/60 and 42nd in the league in points per 60 even strength. 30th in GA/60 even strength.

Out of players that have played 500 minutes of even strength

Those are close to top of league numbers im curious to see how he will do over the next 7 weeks on the top pair against the leagues best so far so good if he keeps this up can we call him a top pair dman?

 

[pdefenestrator]

Just a little update on Hutton statistically

Hutton is also 19th in the league in even strength Primary assists/60 and 42nd in the league in points per 60 even strength. 30th in GA/60 even strength.

Out of players that have played 500 minutes of even strength

His emergence (and that of Baertchi to a lesser extent) may be the best thing happening for the Canucks this season.

BTW, where did that chart come from?

 

[polarbearcub]

Those are close to top of league numbers im curious to see how he will do over the next 7 weeks on the top pair against the leagues best so far so good if he keeps this up can we call him a top pair dman?

With edler out , this is a great test to see where Hutton is right now.