With his skating ability, vision and shiftiness, Canadiens prospect Lane Hutson is hard to hit on the ice.
But the 5-foot-10, 162-pound defenceman got hit hard late in the second period of a 5-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs Sunday at the Bell Centre in a Prospect Showdown game that wrapped up the Canadiens’ rookie camp. Hutson had his head down, looking for the puck in his feet near the boards in the defensive zone, when the Leafs’ Marshall Finnie flattened him. Finnie was penalized for the hit and a big scrum followed with Logan Mailloux quickly coming to Hutson’s defence.
Hutson wasn’t injured and picked up an assist on a third-period goal by Mailloux.
“It was just a scrambly puck,” Hutson said about the hit he took. “I don’t even think I touched it. I was looking for it and next thing you know the guy saw me vulnerable and he took advantage of it. So good for him, I guess.”
Hutson appreciated Mailloux, his 6-foot-3, 220-pound blue-line partner, coming to his defence.
“I was just joking with him,” Hutson said with a grin. “I said: ‘I had him.’
“Everyone respects (Mailloux) and that’s just the kind of teammate he is,” Hutson added. “If that were ever him, I’d like to think I’d step in — just not as well as he did there.”
Hutson’s offensive skills were on full display during the two Prospect Showdown games on the weekend — including a 4-3 shootout loss to the Maple Leafs on Saturday in which he picked up an assist and scored in the shootout. The 20-year-old Hutson is a unique talent with a quirky skating style — hunched over and looking bow-legged. But he can fly all over the ice.
During a media scrum with Hutson after Saturday’s game, Apron Basu of The Athletic joked that the defenceman is the opposite of an effortless skater. Hutson chuckled when Basu described him as an “effortful skater.”
“I feel like I’m pretty quick, so that’s something I try to use to my advantage,” Hutson said. “I’d say I’m not like the fastest, but when I need to get going I feel like I can generate some speed and get back to spots where I need to get or get up ice pretty quickly.”
Hutson showed that during the Prospect Showdown games. He also showed his ability to avoid getting hit on several occasions before Finnie flattened him.
“You can’t slip up for even a second,” Hutson said. “Someone’s looking to hit you.”
Hutson’s ability to avoid being hit, along with his defensive play against stronger NHL players, are two question marks moving forward after he posted 30-67-97 totals in 77 games over the past two seasons at Boston University. Hutson’s favourite player is forward Patrick Kane, who won two Stanley Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks and is now with the Detroit Red Wings. The No. 1 overall pick at the 2007 NHL Draft is only 5-foot-10 and 177 pounds, but has scored 471 goals and added 813 assists during his 17 NHL seasons while being able to avoid big hits.
“He gets to dangerous areas in the ice, but he’s super-aware, super-alert and you never see him get touched unless the puck’s in a weird spot for him,” Hutson said about Kane. “But it’s rare when you catch Kane clean.”
Hutson’s vision is what was most impressive during the weekend games and it’s something you can’t teach a player. In response to a tweet saying that, Brian Wilde of Global Montreal wrote: “He plays like he’s seeing the ice from the press box!!!”
Hutson was asked where that vision comes from.
“I think just having a feel for the ice,” he said. “Knowing where guys are going is something that I kind of look at in practice or in videos. Looking at things, you got to learn to find open space and find guys. That’s something that I’ve worked on.”
There’s a lot to like about Hutson’s unique style of playing defence and fans at the Bell Centre are already falling in love with him. If he makes the team this season — which seems likely — you can expect to see a lot of young (and old) fans wearing Canadiens sweaters with No. 48 and Hutson on the back.
Pascal Vincent, the head coach of the AHL’s Laval Rocket who was behind the Canadiens bench for the two weekend games, was very impressed by Hutson.
“I think his biggest skill is his desire to play the game,” Vincent said. “His passion to play the game. That’s a skill to me. He wants to be the guy.
“You don’t get that good if you’re not invested — not only physically, but mentally,” Vincent added. “I don’t know him enough, so I don’t want to say things that aren’t true. But I think he has the passion to be the guy. So he’s watching a lot of hockey. Usually those guys are studying the game in order to be effective on the ice. So it’s very, very positive.”