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Canadiens Prospect Watch: Lane Hutson Off To Hot Start In NCAA

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Habs news: Montreal Canadiens prospect Lane Hutson

The Montreal Canadiens prospect pool continues to improve.

When the Canadiens traded Brett Kulak to the Oilers for William Lagesson, a second-round pick (2022) and a seventh-round pick (2024), the consensus was the deal should be considered reasonable value for an underrated defenceman on an expiring contract.

But now that we know the second-round pick turned into exciting defenceman Lane Hutson, it’s fair to say the trade may have a lot more value than originally anticipated.

Second-Round Steal

Hutson is off to a fantastic start to his NCAA career, scoring 3 goals and 5 assists in just 7 games, including a fantastic performance against UMass Lowell Saturday night.

The Boston University Terriers won a tightly-contested game, which necessitated overtime and produced two great Hutson highlights.

He started by opening the score in a classic Hutsonian fashion, walking the blue line and quickly losing his coverage in the process before scoring his first goal of the game.

But Hutson wasn’t done there.

With the game in overtime, the 5’9″ defenceman was given amble space to skate, leading to a great game-winning goal which once again involved fancy edgework and elite stickhandling, not to mention top-notch puck protection.

Hutson is now second among all Terriers in scoring, trailing forward Matt Brown, who happens to be 5 years older than the 18-year-old Canadiens prospect.

Second Second-Round Steal

Hutson isn’t the only player with significant potential the Canadiens drafted in the second round this year.

Centre Owen Beck has quickly found his rhythm in the OHL and is well on his way to doubling his offensive output from last season in fewer games played. It’s also worth noting Beck continues to fulfill his duties in his own zone, allowing him to turn defensive situations into scoring opportunities.

Beck has scored 7 times and has added 7 assists in 9 games, including a two-point effort on Saturday against the Sagina Spirit.

Rocket Watch

Justin Barron scored his first two goals of the season for the Laval Rocket, a very encouraging sign for a player that seemed to have lost his confidence once he arrived at the Montreal Canadiens training camp.

Second-round pick Jan Mysak also found the back of the net for the first time this season.

Despite only producing 3 points in 8 games, Rafael Harvey-Pinard is playing some fantastic hockey for the Rocket.

As it stands, when Harvey-Pinard is on the ice, the Rocket have enjoyed a +23 scoring chance differential, far and away the best result among any player on the team.

Miscellaneous Prospect News and Notes

  • After starting his OHL career in style with 7 points in 3 games, first-round pick Filip Mesar was held out of the Kitchener Rangers lineup due to the flu, but quickly returned to form on Sunday, scoring a great powerplay goal.

  • Logan Mailloux‘s second goal of the year was a game-winning goal for the London Knights.
  • Oliver Kapanen joined the game-winning goal club this week as well.
  • Petteri Nurmi earned two assists while playing on HPK Hameenlinna’s top pairing.
  • QMJHL standout Riley Kidney also added two assists to his yearly tally.