What scouts, coaches say about top Montreal Canadiens prospect Lane Hutson

Steven Ellis
Steven Ellis
What scouts, coaches say about top Montreal Canadiens prospect Lane Hutson
Credit: Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff

Few prospects have been as hot of a topic in recent years as Montreal Canadiens draft pick Lane Hutson.

Anyone who watched his 2022 draft year knew he wasn’t the 62nd-best prospect in the draft. Late second-rounders don’t go toe-to-toe with Cam York, Adam Fox and Quinn Hughes for all-time scoring leads. Yeah, sure. At 5-foot-8, the size argument made sense. But so many believed Hutson was going outplay those concerns, and if he added a bit more mass, he’d be in good shape.

Hutson was drafted at 5-foot-8 and 150 pounds. And while he hasn’t had a huge growth spurt, the IIHF has him listed at 5-foot-10 and 161 pounds. Visually, you can tell. It’s still undersized by modern NHL defensemen standards, but could his results speak for themselves?

Last year, they sure did. At 18, Hutson broke a 35-year-old record for points by a U-19 defenseman with his 48th point of the year with Boston University, surpassing Hockey Hall of Famer Brian Leetch. He won the Hockey East rookie of the year, was a finalist for HE’s top player award and was HE’s tournament MVP. Add in a Hobey Baker finalist spot and there wasn’t much more you could ask for from one of the youngest – and most prolific – defenders in college hockey.

Hutson returned to the NCAA, which was always the best route forward. He entered USA’s world junior camp with 20 points in 15 games this year with BU, good for fourth among all defenders despite playing three fewer games than those ahead of him.

It’s all status quo.

Hutson took part in his second NHL rookie camp this past July, receiving solid reviews. While he’s still a while away from being NHL-ready – and there’s no rush to bring him up with an influx of young defenders in waiting – Hutson’s creativity shone through, as expected.

“It was clear nobody thought the puck-rushing game like Lane,” a scout said. “He pulled off moves that only he could do. He thought the offensive game like very few can. You look at a guy like Cale Makar, and the way he reacts and makes moves with the puck. I’m not saying Hutson’s at that level, but he’s on the right track.”

Hutson is known for trying to get too fancy with the puck, which can hurt him. The 2023 men’s World Hockey Championship in May was a perfect example of that – although, to give him credit, he was a 19-year-old playing against professionals for the first time in his career. And you’d be wrong to discount his competition just because he wasn’t going against top NHL talent, either. Those were pros, with many having current or previous NHL experience, and European pros are no slouch whatsoever. NHLers who have played in it will be the first to tell you that.

“Playing in that tournament was a tall tale for him, but I thought he looked impressive,” a former NHLer and current league scout said. “He got beat on some foot races and outmuscled a bit, but there’s a reason very few college defensemen ever thrive at the worlds – it’s because the competition is tough. But there were many games where he was among USA’s top defensemen.”

There’s no shortage of confidence in Hutson’s game. He’s willing to rush the puck down the ice and if the scoring lanes don’t materialize, he’ll make his own. We’ve seen that repeatedly in college and with USA Hockey. There’s a reason he runs the power play, too – when it comes to getting the puck where it has to be, few defensemen in recent years have come close to Hutson.

“He’s manipulative as hell,” a college scout added. “The way he handles the puck, the way he skates, the way he pulls off no-look passes… there’s a reason we keep talking about him. You don’t get guys like this often. He’s a weight-shifting mastermind.”

But beyond the size concerns, there are the defensive deficiencies. When you rush the puck as much as Hutson does, you will make mistakes in your zone. Those are evident in Hutson’s game, although fixing those has been a bigger focus of Hutson’s game this season.

There’s still room to grow defensively, but if you watched a game at BU in, say, November compared to the same time last year, it’s a different story. Still, it has to improve further – mainly his reads, and how he makes up for missed chances.

“He still gets beaten in space too often for my liking. He’ll get too caught up in trying to be a hero and then cost his team in his own zone instead,” an NHL scout said. “He’s gotta be much better at doing what he’s there to do, which is be a defenseman. But his offensive traits are so tantalizing that he might be one of the smaller guys that breakthrough.”

Hutson is genuinely a unique prospect with the chance to be a game-changer with Montreal. He has his flaws, like any young prospect, but the ceiling is exciting. If you see Habs fans losing their mind over Hutson, it makes sense. He’s one of the most interesting prospects to watch in the game today.

But dominating against your age group is one thing. Going up against the best in the world is an entirely different challenge.

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