Canadiens Hockey

Lane Hutson proved once again last night that he’s not human
Emma Wilson
Lane Hutson proved once again last night that he’s not human
Credit: Capture d'écran / Screenshot

When Patrik Laine suffered a serious injury, Montreal Canadiens fans' excitement for the 2024-2025 season took a major blow.

Laine was an eagerly-awaited player, and they were looking forward to seeing him play and perform.

Excitement had waned, but fans were all thinking “at least we'll have Lane Hutson to watch”.

Well, I can tell you that after three games this season, Lane Hutson has all but made up for Patrik Laine's absence with his eye-popping presence.

Indeed, the 20-year-old defenseman (yes, he's only 20) has been nothing short of sensational since the start of the season.

Every time he takes the puck into his possession, the entire Bell Centre, as well as the fans at home, stop breathing, because they know something impressive is about to happen.

What Hutson can do on the ice is simply out of this world, and he proved again last night against the Ottawa Senators that he's simply not human.

The American defender had another superb game yesterday, recording two assists (he finally received his due on Emil Heineman's goal) in 18:35 of playing time.

That gives him four assists in three games this season, ranking him first in the entire NHL among rookies.

(Credit: NHL.com)

It's obviously a small sample size, but with what Hutson has shown us so far, there's no doubt he'll be able to compete for the Calder Trophy.

Because honestly, I'm going to tell you the same thing I told my dad over and over again yesterday, but I just don't see how Hutson can't get at least one assist a game if he keeps playing the way he is right now.

Unless the Habs are blanked, if Hutson's teammates are opportunistic, the American defenseman will continue to rack up points.

Now, I've only mentioned the rookies, but among all defensemen, Hutson is tied for second in the NHL, just one point behind Shea Theodore.

Cale Makar, Seth Jones and Justin Faulk also have four points so far.

The craziest thing about all this is that Hutson achieves all this by playing a lot of minutes every game, and he doesn't look in any way crazy defensively at the moment, despite some very slight shortcomings.

In five career games, Hutson has spent 91 minutes and 56 seconds at 5-on-5 on the ice, the highest total for a Habs player since 2000, when even-strength ice time was introduced.

For many, Lane Hutson will become an NHL star, but I'd like to tell you this morning that Lane Hutson is already an NHL star.

I've never seen a player so confident with the puck and so talented, yet you never know what he's going to do with it.

His vision of the game is masterful, even more so than Nick Suzuki's, which is also impressive.

The Habs' number 20 is making more than a name for himself in the NHL, and as Martin St-Louis so aptly put it, Hutson must be so tiring for opposing players to play against.

As we saw yesterday, Hutson clearly bothered Brady Tkachuk, who couldn't take Hutson anymore, but still couldn't get him off balance.

The Senators' captain was frustrated last night, but he still couldn't shake Hutson during the sequence leading up to Alex Newhook's goal.

Tkachuk also mocked Hutson's turnovers later in the game.

In short, Hutson is VERY special, and he proves it game after game.

Not just anyone can top a list of players that includes Guy Lafleur.


Overtime

– Hutson doesn't just fool his teammates, he fools the camera too!

– Martin St-Louis had only good words for Lane Hutson.

– The main interested party remains very humble.

– Of note.

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