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Lane Hutson could have the “Juraj Slafkovský’s treatment”

 Andrew Taylor
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Lane Hutson could have the “Juraj Slafkovský’s treatment”
Credit: Getty Images

Lane Hutson will probably be one of the most closely watched players at the Canadiens’ training camp. The offensively gifted defenseman will be out to prove that he deserves his place in the NHL.

In the meantime, he’s representing the Habs at the Rookie Showcase… and it makes for some funny pictures when he finds himself next to giant Matt Rempe.

That said, even if he’s loaded with talent, congestion on the Habs blue line will force the kid to pull out all the stops. Right now, the consensus is that he has more a position to lose than a position to gain… but guys like Logan Mailloux, Jayden Struble and David Reinbacher will be fighting for a spot, too.

On 98.5 Sports, Jean-François Chaumont chatted a bit about what’s in store for Hutson over the next few weeks… and you can sense that the journalist sees Hutson starting the year in Montreal, not least for one specific reason:

In my humble opinion, I have the impression that Martin St-Louis will want to work with him as he did with Juraj Slafkovský. – Jean-François Chaumont

Remember that when he turned pro, the Habs decided to keep Slaf in the NHL. It was a decision that didn’t sit well with everyone, as some wanted to see him go get some serious playing time in Laval.

After all, things sometimes moved quickly for the Slovak when he first arrived.

But even when things got tough for the big forward, the Habs never sent him back down, preferring to trust Martin St-Louis to develop the 1st pick in the 2022 draft. And even if it took a little time, we saw last year that it paid off.

Of course, not everyone feels this way. Brian Wilde has the impression that Kent Hughes is trying to keep a door open to send Hutson back to Laval to start the year… but when you look at the way the Habs handled Slaf‘s development, you can understand why some see the club doing the same thing again with another of its top prospects in Hutson.

David Reinbacher is probably the counter-example in all this, but right now, Hutson seems to be more NHL-ready than the Austrian. That’s only to be expected, given his age.

And when you consider that St-Louis is good at developing guys with excellent offensive instincts, you’d think he’d be the right man to develop Hutson this season. Unless, like Corey Pronman, you think the defenseman’s skills with the puck are “average”.

Clearly, there will be a lot of talk about this until training camp, but it will be interesting to see how the Habs deal with Lane Hutson. The good news is that the kid doesn’t think he’s “too good for the AHL” if the Habs feel that’s the way to go.


Overtime

– New NCAA rule: goalies can no longer take part in the face-off. If anyone had this bold idea, it’s now illegal.

– Jordan Harris will wear #22 in Columbus.

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