‘Quiet’ Hutson making big impact on Canadiens blueline
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Montreal Canadiens rookie defenceman Lane Hutson may be a quiet guy off the ice, but his play on the ice speaks volumes.
Hutson is in the midst of a seven-game point streak, the longest point streak by a rookie defenceman in franchise history, a record that was previously held by Glen Harmon (1942-43) and Chris Chelios (1984-85).
While he doesn’t have a goal yet, Hutson is second in the NHL rookie scoring race with his 19 assists trailing only Philadelphia Flyers star rookie Matvei Michkov’s 27 points.
The 20-year-old blueliner is averaging 22:54 minutes of ice time per game and has been elevated to Montreal’s first power-play unit in recent weeks.
“He’s been really good for us this whole year,” said Canadiens defenceman Kaiden Guhle on Wednesday. “I never really saw him play before in college, but obviously we got a small sample last year but it’s fun to watch. He’s been doing such a good job. He’s already a pro. He’s here early, he’s always on the ice first every day. He just wants to get better and he’s always trying to get better and asking questions.
“He’s a pretty quiet guy, but he’s actually really funny. He goes for dinner with us on the road all the time, he always pops up a couple one-liners.
“He says there’s never a scrum when he’s on the ice because everyone is scared of him.”
Hutson was taken 62nd overall by the Canadiens in 2022 after a sublime career with the United States National Development Program where he had 10 goals and 63 points in 60 games in his draft year. That carried over to the NCAA with Boston University where he had 48 points as a rookie.
He signed his three-year, entry-level contract with Montreal after a sophomore NCAA season where he had 49 points in 38 games and helped the United States win gold at the World Juniors. He had two assists in his first two NHL games at the end of the 2023-24 season.
Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis said Wednesday that he knew what Hutson was capable of with the puck on his stick but wanted to see how on the defensive side of his game.
“I didn’t know that he had that defensive compete in him,” said St. Louis. “But once I saw his compete level defensively, it’s something that impressed me at the time.”
Hutson has not scored a goal since he was at Boston University on March 30 against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. But his playmaking has made a significant impact on his teammates, including on winger Patrik Laine, who has scored three goals in four games since returning to the lineup on Dec.3, with Hutson assisting on all three goals.