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Canadiens Prospect Lane Hutson’s Dominant Night

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3 weeks ago

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Montreal canadiens prospect lane hutson

This is going to shock Montreal Canadiens fans, but phenom Lane Hutson had yet another great performance for Boston University.

The sophomore defenceman may have broken a bevy of records last season, but he had yet to score a hat trick for the Terriers. That changed on Saturday night against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks.

Hutson kept his team in the game long enough to force overtime, however, the Terriers, who are yet to find their rhythm this season, ultimately lost 5-4.

Hutson’s first hat trick of his young NCAA career was also his sixth goal of the year, pushing his season tally to nine points in seven games.

Look, we don’t want to sound too arrogant, but the engraver for the Hobey Baker Award may want to start practicing their Ls and Hs.

Lane Hutson Hat Trick Performance

The Habs’ elite prospect tied the game in the first period with yet another classic Hutsonian play. He walked the blueline, deeked the pants off an opposing player, and then quickly unleashed his wrist shot.

On top of creating time and space for his teammates, Hutson also has a penchant for creating space for himself, which he almost always puts to good use.

We then witnessed the budding chemistry between Hutson and the top prospect for the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, Macklin Celebrini. After finding Celebrini down low, Hutson activated, driving directly to the net in time to capitalize on his teammate’s perfect pass.

I know what you’re thinking, Habs fans.

But it’s unlikely the Canadiens end up having the opportunity to call Celebrini’s name once they take to the podium for the first time in Las Vegas.

That being said, there’s nothing wrong with a little dreaming.

Hutson’s hat-trick goal tied the game heading into the second intermission, while also putting his underrated accuracy on display.

On top of great accuracy, Hutson has a sneaky release. It’s not particularly quick, but it is deceptive, and goalies rarely anticipate where the puck will end up.

Boston University, the top-ranked team heading into the season, may be failing to meet expectations with their 3-2-2 record, but it’s the polar opposite situation for their alternate captain.

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Tyrone

It was a natural hattie too.

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Peter

Why does he have the worst plus/minus on his team at -5, 20 other players are at zero or higher?

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Marc Dumont

Oh boy. Still using +/- in 2023 is like using phrenology.

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Sean

Come on man – tell the rest of the story. He ended this game at even after watching the ND player score the OT winner 20 seconds in

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Marc Dumont

At 5v5:
• 5 shots, 0.67 xG
• 4 controlled exits, 4 controlled entries
• 67 % transition success rate
• 7 advantages created.

+/- is the worst stat and honestly, we need to stop using it yesterday.

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Sean

One glaring defensive fail at critical juncture
Team loses

+- is of dubious value perhaps but it tends to counter the whole “improving defensively” narrative which is a bunch of Pandolfo hot air imo

Makar, Hughes and Fox were all large plus numbers in their college years

Hutson was a + 25 last year

Something’s missing ….

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Albert Vanular

Sorry but I have to disagree. Plus/ minus is not the best stat for sure but it still indicates some serious weaknesses in Lane Hutson’s game. He has by far, the worst +/- on his team and it does mean something. I’m usually a very positive optimistic Hab fan but I chose Joshua Roy as Habs best prospect in your recent poll due to the fact that Roy plays a solid 200 foot game both on offense and defense. Hutson is brilliant offensively and is often a highlight reel machine but the fact is that he is still brutal on defense. Last time I checked, defense and goaltending still wins championships – just look at Edmonton or Toronto for proof that great offense is not enough to get it done. Hutson does look great with the puck and can probably step in immediately on the power play for Montreal but until he learns to play better defense, he is still not ready for the show.

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Marc Dumont

He just won the Hockey East Defender of the Week, again.

Look, you can focus on +- if you want, but it’s meaningless, and no one who works in hockey pays attention to it.

We have so many better stats available.

Using an archaic statistic while ignoring modern ones is not very productive.

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Albert Vanular

I agree + – is not a very good stat so let’s ignore it.. but I think you miss my point. Lane Hutson is brilliant offensively. He can deke and dangle better than anyone. He has more moves than Houdini. He is great in transition, he can find open space and he has a sneaky good shot. He looks like a good playmaker also. The offense is fabulous but the issue is that his defense is lacking at this stage. He can be beat off the rush and he has a hard time pivoting to keep up when the opponent has the puck. He is small and not physical at all & he often loses his man in coverage on defensive assignments. He is great with the puck but not so good without it.
Lane has a skillset that is unique in the Habs system but I don’t know if that can translate at the NHL level of defense where players are bigger faster and stronger than what he has seen in NCAA. I also wonder if Habs would consider turning him into a forward due to his great offensive talent and the fact that Montreal has deep prospect pool for defensemen but they are lacking in talented offensive forwards.

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