January 7, 2025
Lane Hutson continues to impress, leads all rookies in points
The Montreal Canadiens made waves when they selected Juraj Slafkovsky ahead of Shane Wright at the 2022 NHL draft, but it is their second round, 62nd overall pick, Lane Hutson that is making all the noise in the NHL this season.
A day after watching his younger brother Cole Hutson win gold at the World Juniors for the United States, Lane Hutson came up with a monster performance last night against the Vancouver Canucks, where he notched a goal and two assists as the Montreal Canadiens came from behind to shock the Canucks.
See Also: Canadiens draft Demidov, Hage in first round of 2024 NHL Draft
Much of the Canadiens offense this year has come from Hutson, who has proved to be a dynamic skater with break-neck edges and moves that many pundits thought couldn’t and wouldn’t translate to the NHL. How wrong they were, as Hutson despite his size, has shown through the first forty games of the season, that he is the real deal.
Few would have thought that Lane Hutson would be leading all NHL rookies at the halfway mark of the season, including his own fans, yet that is the case. And he is doing ahead of great prospects such as Matvei Michkov and Macklin Celebrini.
Hutson’s goal last night was the third of his rookie campaign, and while he took a little while to get his goal scoring account opened, his incredible vision and skating prowess have enabled him to make awe-inspiring plays and set up team mates for goals from the get go.
Now that Hutson has usurped Mike Matheson as the quarterback on the Canadiens first-wave powerplay, Hutson’s point totals are starting to stack up, as the 30-year-old now has 30 points through the first 40 games of the 2024-2025 NHL season. That’s one more than Michkov and two more than Celebrini – two of the best young star forwards in the league. Hutson is on pace for the 7th highest point total by a rookie NHL defenseman ever, behind greats like Larry Murphy, Brian Leetch, Phil Housely, Ray Bourque and former Canadien Chris Chelios. Elite company.
The best is seemingly still yet to come, as Hutson has grown more and more comfortable in the NHL, he has begun to display more and more attributes that should only lead to more points in the near future. While the same is also true from Mickhov and Celebrini – it is hard not to get excited for such a dynamic young defenseman. Especially when you notice for great young defenders like Quinn Hughes in Vancouver, Cale Makar in Colorado and Adam Fox in New York catapult their teams into fast, creative offensive plays
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>> Canadiens draft Demidov, Hage in first round of 2024 NHL Draft
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To make matters even sweeter, is that with last nights win, the Montreal Canadiens now hold the final wild card position in the East. And while there is still a whole lot of hockey left to play the season – both Hutson and the Habs play of late is like angelic music to the Montreal Canadiens faithful who have been patiently awaiting the results of a difficult rebuild.
With Ivan Demidov tearing up the KHL – the future for the Habs is bright indeed.
