Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson impressed in the two games he got in at the end of last season after having signed his entry-level contract. There is no disputing that, in limited action, he showed he has the capacity to compete in the NHL to the point the Habs and their fans should be excited about what the future holds in general and specifically regarding his ceiling. However, logically speaking, that future won’t start in the coming weeks heading into 2024-25. Put simply, no one should be shocked if they keep him in the American Hockey League (beyond a minor audition) to start off his pro career.
You’re right, of course. He technically started off his pro career with the Canadiens. However, reading into those aforementioned two games too much can be dangerous. It’s a simple matter of him having been ineligible for the AHL at the time. He needed to be on the Laval Rocket roster at the NHL trade deadline for the Habs to send him down.
Lane Hutson vs. Sean Farrell
Furthermore, one year earlier, Sean Farrell accomplished much the same feat, debuting in the NHL after his collegiate career was over to a great deal of fanfare as well. While there are hopes the forward can gain traction in the organization, it’s not for certain he’ll be able to stand out above the rest in a crowded prospect pool up front.
So, why are things different with Hutson on defense? The simple fact is Hutson is almost universally projected to have an impact at the NHL level. The only thing analysts seem to be splitting hairs over at this point is whether he’ll be able to have a positive impact at both ends of the ice. Keep in mind though, general manager Kent Hughes recently came out in an interview with Tony Marinaro, saying (translated from French):
“If [Hutson] needs to improve certain aspects of his game and he would be better served playing in the American Hockey League, we’ll send him there, but we’re not going to keep him in the NHL just to make him a power-play specialist.”
Based on those comments, the Canadiens clearly aren’t interested in keeping Hutson up simply to be a seventh defenseman. Nor should they as his development is far too important based on how many envision the American ending up the most dynamic “home”grown Habs defenseman since P.K. Subban, who captured the 2013 James Norris Memorial Trophy as the league’s best rearguard.
However, there are further similarities between Farrell’s and Hutson’s situations. For example, the latter’s left side on defense is especially crowded. Currently, you’ve got Mike Matheson, Kaiden Guhle, Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble as defensemen with at least some claim on a roster spot.
Hutson’s Development over Kaiden Guhle’s?
To be fair, Guhle has been deployed on the right side opposite Matheson. However, it really doesn’t make sense to keep him there into the long term, when his play arguably suffered as a result, especially if it would only be to fit Hutson in as the aforementioned seventh defenseman. The Canadiens effectively drafted David Reinbacher to play on that first pairing, while Justin Barron is likely making the team out of training as he’s no longer exempt from waivers. Logan Mailloux is another right-handed defenseman on whom the Canadiens are high, who, similar to Hutson, also got in some time in the NHL at the end of last season. The difference is, while the Habs had no choice but to play Hutson there, they willingly promoted him as a reward for all-star AHL season. For that reason, while Mailloux clearly has weaknesses in his game, he simply looks more likely to make the cut over Hutson.
Regarding Reinbacher, while it’s unlikely he ends up making the cut in training camp, he does have designs on making the roster himself. Ultimately, if he is considered unlikely to make the Canadiens, requiring one full season in the AHL before he can realistically make the transition, the same should theoretically apply to Hutson. Granted, in a theoretical meritocracy, it depends more on how Hutson’s training camp goes relative to those of his fellow lefties on defense. However, Matheson’s not going anywhere right now. Xhekaj just signed a two-year, one-way extension, which is as a signal the Habs are going to keep him up this year for good.
Meanwhile, Struble just came off a fairly impressive rookie season in which he forced the Canadiens’ hand, to give him 56 games, effectively at Xhekaj’s expense. Having Struble perform as effectively as he did enabled them to keep Xhekaj down to work on his game after he returned from injury.
Sure, Struble’s game did slip over the course of the long NHL season, but in keeping him up the Habs effectively said they see him as being more effective than Xhekaj. So, if Xhekaj’s staying up, it’s a logical assumption Struble would as well, as the two battle it out for seventh-defensemen duties. The Canadiens should simply have higher aspirations for Hutson. The more minutes he gets the better.
When Hutson’s NHL Journey Should Really Start
Xhekaj’s journey to get to this point shows there’s no shame spending time in the AHL. There was even talk of first-overall-pick Juraj Slafkovsky needing more seasoning. Obviously it worked out in Slafkovsky’s case (without the Canadiens having to send him down). He’s now a virtual top-line lock, on whom the future of the organization arguably depends to a greater degree than on Hutson. However, it really only began to gel for Slafkovsky once he got put permanently on that line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield midway through his sophomore season (after a few false starts there).
If the Canadiens can’t guarantee putting Hutson in the equivalent best position to succeed, keeping him in Montreal is foolish. Look at it this way: It took Slafkovsky, who’s the same age as Hutson, over a single season in the North American professional ranks to work out the kinks. So, a seamless transition on Hutson’s part is incredibly unrealistic, when defensemen historically take longer to develop. The Canadiens should learn from what went wrong with Slafkovsky (because the notion things went exactly how they should, when he scored 17 points in his first 68 games, is nonsensical), so things go as right as possible here.
Hutson may very well impress come training camp. However, if he doesn’t outplay Matheson, to the point of forcing the Habs to trade the guy, or Guhle, to the point of forcing them to play him on his off side and risk his continued development, the choice is clear, however disappointing it may be.
Hutson’s time will come, but it doesn’t absolutely have to be in 2024-25. It should be when he’s ready. The Canadiens simply need to see more beyond two end-of-season games to come to that conclusion and justify keeping him up permanently, like Xhekaj now after his AHL odyssey. A good training camp would be a start, but it should have to be hands-down excellent for it to signify the true start of Hutson’s NHL one.
