Lane Hutson and his (big) role on the Canadiens’ power play

Will Lane Hutson make the club after training camp: that’s what many Canadiens fans are wondering.

It’s a legitimate question. After all, even if Habs management seems to want Laval to become a starting point for defensemen (at least that’s what we’ve seen with Logan Mailloux and David Reinbacher… as opposed to 2022-2023), one wonders if this applies to Hutson.

After all, he’s the kind of defenseman who could benefit from playing in the NHL right now, in order to dance with players of the same offensive caliber. And it’s not as if he didn’t hold his own against Detroit at the end of the season.

Even if journalist Sean Farrell doesn’t put him in his potential line-up for the start of the Habs’ season, the fact remains that the American is well placed to secure a position.

And many people, including Pierre McGuire, feel that way.

A guest on Tony Marinaro’s Sick Podcast, McGuire spoke at length about how Hutson could positively affect the Habs’ power play by linking up with the guys on the first line.

So clearly, if McGuire thinks Lane Hutson can dislodge Mike Matheson (the club’s undoubted #1 defenseman right now) on the first power play, it’s clear that the analyst sees Hutson making the club right now.

In fact, when he named his first power play, McGuire talked about Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Lane Hutson and “someone else” forming, in his eyes, the first wave.

The someone else could be Matheson, but that’s obviously not a certainty in his eyes.

If Hutson were to become as good (right now) as McGuire obviously expects, he believes it would help Cole Caufield score properly in 2024-2025.

Mind you: it’s not all on Lane Hutson’s shoulders. McGuire sees a revamped power play (led by an underrated Nick Suzuki on PP) that includes Hutson.

But let’s just say that potentially taking Matheson out of there and hoping it’s better than last year is… certainly an opinion. It would make the second wave dangerous, I know, but still: I’m not taking the Quebecer off the job.

At worst, if we want the American on the first power play, why not go with two defensemen on the first pair?

Obviously, it’s easy to speculate during the off-season, but we’ll see what Martin St-Louis ~~and his power-play coach~~, as well as management, think on the heels of training camp.

In reality, the Habs will do whatever it takes to help them score as much as possible. McGuire wants to see the Habs score a minimum of 250 goals by 2024-2025, at least 14 more than last year.

Overtime

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