Lane Hutson leads defensemen in assists in 2025

Lane Hutson leads defensemen in assists in 2025
Credit: Getty Images

Lane Hutson is in only his second season in the National Hockey League.

Who cares?

I say that because the Canadiens' Lane Hutson leads the NHL in assists among defensemen in 2025. In fact, he's the only one with more than 60!

Hutson ranks first with 64 assists since January 1. Cale Makar and Evan Bouchard are tied for 2nd place… with an identical 59 assists.

That's quite a list. And it clearly shows how quickly Lane Hutson has become one of the NHL's most talented players.

It's crazy, though.

Before seeing him make his NHL debut, many were saying the same thing: Hutson is never going to make it because of his small stature… and he doesn't have the frame to have a great pro career.

Yikes. Let's just say the opposite is true so far!

What's special about all this is that Lane is still so young. The 21-year-old is already one of the best offensive defensemen on the Bettman circuit. He ranks 3rd among the league's top scoring defensemen behind Cale Makar and Zach Werenski, and he's one of the elite… even though he's only played 121 games since the start of his career.

That's impressive. And you know what?

He's probably going to get even better over the next few years. That's very exciting for Canadiens fans…


Overtime

– Oh.

– Ayoye!

– Yes.

– With Alex Ovechkin's imminent departure, it makes sense.