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Power play: Lane Hutson must not take Mike Matheson’s place

 Sarah Jones
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Power play: Lane Hutson must not take Mike Matheson’s place
Credit: Getty Images

Lane Hutson deserves to play in the NHL. At the end of camp, he doesn’t deserve to go to Laval.

Unless there’s a surprise, he won’t be going. He’ll start the season in the NHL, and come October, he’ll be dancing on the ice at the Bell Centre like he’s done all his life.

And the fans will love it.

After that, the big question will be how to use him. Will the Canadiens start him off with David Savard? Is it conditional on Kaiden Guhle starting the season with Mike Matheson? We’ll see.

But one thing’s for sure: he’ll be playing on the power play. It’s his bread and butter, and it’s obviously where he’ll be most useful on the ice for Martin St-Louis’ group.

But in my opinion, we should wait before giving him Mike Matheson’s job on the first power play.

After all, last year, the Québécois was still the NHL’s ninth most productive defenseman in terms of points with 62. His 28 points with an extra man put him eighth in the league.

(Credit: NHL.com)
In what world does Matheson deserve to lose his place?

Unless we put Lane Hutson alongside Matheson? It’s not a crazy idea, but I can’t see Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky or Patrik Laine losing their positions in the first wave either.

The way I see it, Hutson should go on the second wave. I see him with Alex Newhook, Kirby Dach and Joshua Roy, to name but a few.

And I also see him alongside a defenseman.

Whether it’s Justin Barron, Arber Xhekaj (who has a big shot) or Logan Mailloux, having a guy on the blue line would allow Hutson to have freedoms and act as a fourth forward if he wanted to. He’d also be the star of his unit, and the game would revolve around him.

In my eyes, it’s the right thing to do to start the season. The attention would be on him – and he knows what to do with the puck.

Of course, I must add that I’m not setting this in stone for 82 games. If Hutson’s dominant and Matheson’s a handful, Martin St-Louis will have to consider reversing them at some point.

But my point is this: give Matheson, who shouldn’t complain no matter how he’s used, the chance to defend his position. He deserves it.

It’s also worth noting that if on any given night, the power play isn’t going anywhere, Martin St-Louis will have to get to his second wave – or at least to Hutson – more quickly. Last year, the coach didn’t have that luxury.

Let’s also mention that one reason I suggest the second wave is to control the young man’s playing time, which can be an issue. He comes from the NCAA and the NHL load is big.

All this together means that my conclusion is to leave Hutson on the second wave for the time being. I’m keeping the door open to change my mind at some point in the season, of course.

And in an ideal world, Hutson would change my mind sooner rather than later. He’s capable of it, anyway.


In Overtime

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