When using the eye test, we see that last night, Lane Hutson was sometimes moving a bit too fast.
But we also see that he was excellent at the right moments. He notably allowed the Canadiens to win thanks to his two assists. Without him, we’re not talking about the same game.
This brings him to 48 points in 61 games – and 50 in 63 career games. And reaching that plateau in 63 games is a franchise record. Only 10 guys in NHL history have done better.
Lane Hutson is a guy who has 31 assists since December 1st. And among all NHL defensemen, no one has done better.
His consistency (despite a dry spell before the Four Nations Tournament) means that right now, his 48 points put him in a tie for fourth place in the league for defensemen’s points.
Only Cale Makar, Zach Werenski, and Quinn Hughes, who are obviously big players in the NHL (…), are ahead of him in this regard for now.
Rasmus Dahlin, Shea Theodore, and Adam Fox, other big players on the ice (…), also have 48 points.
And if we go to the rookies, we see that Lane Hutson is among the only three players with at least 30 points this season – and he’s the only defenseman.
Macklin Celebrini and Matvei Michkov, two rivals in the Calder Trophy race, have 44 points. That’s four fewer than the Canadiens’ defenseman.
With Dustin Wolf, these three guys are at the heart of the Calder Trophy race. And if Hutson finishes with more points than the others as a defenseman, it will help his case.
We’re repeating ourselves, but right now, there’s a path to two consecutive Calder Trophies in Montreal. #LaneHutson #IvanDemidov
:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73932759/2199866303.0.jpg "Nico Hoerner, Matt Shaw and the Cubs’ trip to Japan")