Skip to content
Y
o
u
r
 
d
a
i
l
y
 
d
o
s
e
 
o
f
 
h
o
c
k
e
y
News

Calder : Lane Hutson isn’t (really) a popular choice at The Athletic
Félix Forget
Calder : Lane Hutson isn’t (really) a popular choice at The Athletic
Credit: Getty Images
This season, Lane Hutson is playing very good hockey in Montreal. The rookie came to energize an attack that desperately needed it, with 51 points in 65 games.

And that’s as a defenseman, it should be noted.

The young player’s strong performance places him at the top of the NHL rookies this season… and obviously, he’s a name that comes up in the Calder Trophy race. There are excellent candidates this year (Celebrini, Wolf, and Michkov are also solid candidates), but Hutson is part of that race.

Today, The Athletic published the new edition of its predictions survey among its journalists, which is done several times during the season and allows us to have their opinion on various hot topics in the Bettman circuit.

Among them, there is the question of the Calder Trophy winner… and what we notice is that the Canadiens’ defenseman is not (really) a popular choice. He finished third in the race with 17.2% of the votes, far behind Macklin Celebrini (51.7%) and Dustin Wolf (27.6%), but ahead of Matvei Michkov (3.4%). No other rookie received a vote.

These results are particularly interesting in the context where the surveyed population represents a significant contingent of people who vote for individual honors at the end of the season. This gives an idea of the general trend… which would put Hutson on the third step of the podium.

Celebrini’s 49 points in 55 games and his excellent play on both ends of the ice make him a solid candidate. As for Wolf, he’s single-handedly taking the Flames to the playoffs, an impressive feat for a goalie.

Hutson is also having an exceptional season… but the fact that he’s not alone may make things more complicated for him. He’ll need to have a strong final month if he wants to improve his chances.

And speaking of the final month, the respondents were also asked which teams from the East will make the playoffs, in their opinion. And what we notice is that out of the 29 journalists surveyed, none of them see the Canadiens (who will have to become the Capitals to get there) making the playoffs.

The Senators and Blue Jackets are seen as the teams to beat… and the Rangers are seen as a real threat. Apart from a little love for the Red Wings, no one believes in the chances of the other teams.

Over the next month, then, both Hutson and the Canadiens will have to prove their worth. The next few weeks will be very, very interesting to follow.


In brief

– Sergei Bobrovsky will face the Canadiens tonight.

– Brady Tkachuk will play tonight.

– Well done.

– Good news.

– What to expect from the Astros in 2025?

facebook icon Share twitter icon Tweet linkedin icon Share
More Content