Craig Button has Lane Hutson as the Habs’ top prospect

We’ve all fallen in love with Lane Hutson since he was selected in the second round of the 2022 draft.

His confidence, his elegance on the ice and, of course, his offensive qualities mean that everyone can’t wait to see him play in the NHL.

After all, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen a prospect playing the defenseman position who’s been the talk of Montreal.

So I didn’t fall out of my chair when I saw that the little defenseman was ranked 16th on Craig Button’s list of top NHL prospects.

Cutter Gauthier (1st), Will Smith (3rd) and Matvei Michkov (5th) are ranked in the top-5 of said list…

While after Hutson, there are also interesting names like Yaroslav Askarov (17th), Devon Levi (20th), David Jiricek (21st), Logan Stankoven (22nd) and Dalibor Dvorsky (26th) :

Button as Anaheim’s Cutter Gauthier ranked as the top affiliated prospect. Michkov (PHI) is at 5.

Check out the rest of the list herehttps://t.co/gDdOEhLz7o

– NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) February 22, 2024

Hutson is having another big season at Boston University: he has 37 points (12 goals) in 28 games played, making him one of the top scorers on the NCAA circuit.

The more we talk about him, the more excited we get. And I have a feeling he’ll be fun to watch when he reaches the next level.

That said, there’s another item on Craig Button’s list that struck me.

Joshua Roy is ranked 30th, which is excellent because he was drafted in the 5th round… But at 33rd, we find the name of David Reinbacher, who was selected 5th in the last draft.

In Scott Wheeler’s list of the best prospect banks(the Habs are ranked 10th), Reinbacher should be a good 3rd or 4th defenseman in the NHL…

And this shows that the Austrian isn’t necessarily highly rated by the experts who keep a close eye on young prospects.

Should we be concerned? Did the Habs make a mistake by selecting him at No. 5, when several good forwards were still available?

To be continued.

In closing, Logan Mailloux is ranked 38th on Craig Button’s list. Shane Wright is ranked 44th.

In bursts

– Nice read on the deadline.

#VGK are shopping for a winger. They were before Mark Stone’s injury – and the team says he’ll now be out “for a while,” which opens a whole new slate of possibilities.

Guentzel? Reilly Smith reunion?

Fresh Top 40 Trade Targets : https://t.co/y1b61N2kx4 pic.twitter.com/BwHdiTE14q

– Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) February 22, 2024

– Me too.

READING | “I wish the Habs had progressed more” A column by Michel Therrien https://t.co/e4OUN8TTlX

– TVA Sports (@TVASports) February 22, 2024

– Oh?

Friedman and Marek on TJMS agree that Reilly Smith back in Florida would be a good fit.

– NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) February 22, 2024

– Can’t wait to see if he gets traded.

Friedman on Buchnevich/Blues (TJMS): “Buchnevich is a really good player, I believe people have asked about him and I think that’s kind of the answer I got was, you can ask but you might not like the price”

– NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) February 22, 2024

– The question arises.

Is Logan Mailloux the most underrated prospect outside of the NHL? He would definitely be on my short list. The defensive improvement and production we’ve seen in 49 games as a rookie pro after playing fewer than 100 OHL games is incredible. Far too many are underestimating him.

– Grant McCagg (@grantmccagg) February 22, 2024