Canadiens rookie defenceman Lane Hutson is loving everything about being an NHL player.
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The 20-year-old admits he’s a hockey junkie and he’s very happy it’s the only thing he has to focus on now. Hutson spent the last two seasons as a student-athlete at Boston University, where he posted 30-67-97 totals in 77 games after being selected by the Canadiens in the second round (62nd overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft.
The Canadiens enjoyed a day off in Montreal Tuesday after beating the Sabres 7-5 in Buffalo on Monday to end a six-game losing streak (0-5-1).
What did Hutson do on his day off?
“Nothing, really,” he said during a one-on-one chat Wednesday after the Canadiens practised at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard. “Just kind of waited to come back here.
“I love it coming here,” Hutson added. “We had a day off yesterday and it felt like I just couldn’t wait to get back here for practice this morning. For me it’s a dream come true to have (hockey) every day and I’m definitely not taking it for granted.”
Heading into this season there were questions about whether Hutson’s offensive style of game would work in the NHL and whether he’d be able to defend well enough at 5-foot-9 and 162 pounds.
Rob Ramage, the Canadiens’ director of player development, was asked about those two things on Day 1 of training camp in September and his answer described exactly what we’ve seen through Hutson’s first 16 games this season.
“Dog on a bone,” Ramage said. “This kid is just relentless. You see the effort every shift. He leaves it out there every shift and that’s going to help him defending. Because even if he does get beat there’s going to be a second effort trying to get back into the play and then kill that play.”
Yep.
Heading into Thursday’s game against the Wild in Minnesota (8 p.m., TSN2, RDS), Hutson was still looking for his first NHL goal but he had 10 assists to rank fourth among all rookies in scoring and first among rookie defencemen. Hutson was also averaging 23:14 of ice time per game, the most of any rookie and the second-most on the Canadiens behind veteran defenceman Mike Matheson with 23:33.
When Martin St. Louis was asked Wednesday what has impressed him most about Hutson’s quick adjustment to playing in the NHL, the Canadiens head coach said: “To me, it’s just his compete level and we knew that he was an offensive competitor, for sure. But what impressed me the most is his defensive competitiveness.”
When Ramage’s dog on a bone comment was mentioned to Hutson on Wednesday, he said: “I think it’s a hard league to defend in for everyone and guys do it differently. For me, I feel like I just need to have some intensity and some pace on pucks. It’s been helping. There’s going to be adjustments down the road that are going to help me even more, too. Right now, I’m just taking in everything from our whole D core and seeing what works for those guys and what might work for me and what works around the league, too.”
Hutson has been one of the few bright spots for the Canadiens this season. He’s an absolute joy to watch play and there are times when he looks like a kid playing shinny against NHL opposition, which is quite remarkable.
Hutson admits he wasn’t sure if some of the offensive moves he made in college hockey would work in the NHL.
“You never know … but now that I’m here I know that there’s some things that don’t work and some things that are working,” he said. “But you always want to be unpredictable in the way you’re playing and be able to have a repeatable game. You want to find that consistency where you can do it against the top teams in the league or hard teams. You want to be able to do it every night.”
Hutson’s favourite NHL player growing up was Patrick Kane, the No. 1 overall pick by the Chicago Blackhawks at the 2007 NHL Draft who is now in his 18th NHL season, with the Detroit Red Wings. At 5-foot-10 and 177 pounds, Kane isn’t much bigger than Hutson, but he’s a forward — not a defenceman.
“I don’t think he’s been hit in his career,” Hutson said about Kane. “He’s so elusive and it’s not necessarily his quickness. It’s his smarts and his ability to hit his edges hard and get out of tight spaces, using his hands, his eyes, his shoulders. He’s someone I definitely watch and seeing the way different guys move and seeing what works for me.”
While hockey is now a job for Hutson, he doesn’t treat it that way.
“It’s a game and It’s supposed to be fun and you got to enjoy it and right now I’m enjoying it and I want to keep it that way,” he said.
Canadiens fans certainly enjoy watching him play.