Season of 100 passes for Lane Hutson: Grant McCagg opens the door

This morning, colleague Charles-Alexis Brisebois discussed Lane Hutson’s case, stating that the young player’s offensive production allows us to overlook his differential.

This is a somewhat synthesized summary of his argument, but nonetheless, he made a good point.

For every game like the one on Saturday night, Hutson almost single-handedly helps the Canadiens win 3-4 games. His vision and passing skills are already elite caliber.

Today, Grant McCagg also talked about the defender, noting that he is currently on track to collect 63 assists this season. This would be a record in NHL history for a rookie defenseman.

He then continued a bit…until he opened the door to a world in which Hutson could eventually get 100 assists in a season.

Yes, I went there. If he can notch 60 at 20…what’s to keep Hutson from collecting 80, or perhaps even 100 assists, in a season in his prime? https://t.co/MeznGEWWWY

— Grant McCagg (@grantmccagg) January 20, 2025

It should be noted that McCagg spoke of 100 assists and not 100 points. 100 points for a defenseman has been seen several times in league history (Erik Karlsson did it in his last year in San Jose)… but 100 assists is a different story.

In fact, in league history, it has been done… once. Bobby Orr collected 102 in 1970-71, but otherwise, no defenseman in league history has amassed more than 90 assists in a season.

Obviously, this is not the standard that should be expected from the defender. No matter how good he is, those are unrealistic expectations… but if he is on track to gather 63 assists as a rookie, seeing him step up to another level and reach higher numbers (70-80, for example) doesn’t seem completely unrealistic either.

And maybe if the stars align for a season (and he develops incredible chemistry with Ivan Demidov on the power play), there is a world in which McCagg may end up being right. But clearly, it shows that the young man’s potential is very, very high.

In Brief

– He’s managing it better this year, too.

Arber Xhekaj had a HUGE weekend! Just ask Ryan Reaves and Matt Rempe pic.twitter.com/i3hCgxkBej

— L’Antichambre (@Antichambre) January 21, 2025

– An interesting exercise.

What if Quebec had All-Star teams… @MeekerGuerrier joins in on the NHL fun with the All-Star teams of the past quarter-century (from January 1, 2000, to today). What do you think? pic.twitter.com/HQWtRqePa6

— Le 5 à 7 (@5a7RDS) January 20, 2025

– Phew.

The Victoriaville Tigres have lost their last five games since the announcement of Carl Mallette’s firing.

Goals Scored: 3
Goals Allowed: 38

I discussed this with GM Kevin Cloutier today. https://t.co/9hNEdKDzce

— Kevin Dubé (@KDubeJDQ) January 21, 2025

– Attention to those interested.

We had a spectacular weekend in the #NFL … and our three hosts had a lot to say about these divisional matchups

What do you take away from this weekend’s action in the NFL?

(Pssst, this week’s episode is available on our various platforms) pic.twitter.com/S7ohJdex0V

— La Triple Menace (@PodTripleMenace) January 21, 2025