Canadiens Prospect Highlights

GOTTA SEE IT: Canadiens Prospect Lane Hutson’s Great Play

Published

4 months ago

December 23, 2023

Montreal Canadiens prospect Lane Hutson is off to a great start for Team USA at the 2024 World Junior Championship.

The tournament is still in the preliminary stages, which means Saturday’s match-up between Team USA and Team Canada will only serve as a warm-up, but it was the perfect opportunity for a player of Hutson’s ilk to stretch his legs a little.

And stretch his passes.

Hutson helped the Americans open the scoring in the first period thanks to his penchant for evading forecheckers and his penchant for finding teammates on the rush.

After giving his American counterparts plenty of time to find open ice due to a few nice dekes that ditched Canadian coverage in the defensive zone, Hutson sent a perfect stretch pass halfway down the ice to find a streaking Quinn Finley (New York Islanders) who was on the verge of entering the Canadiens zone.

Hutson’s pass split several Canadian players, including both defencemen, allowing Finley plenty of time to pick his spot and score blocker side.

Another look at the stretch pass from Hutson. pic.twitter.com/E4tmX7VYDZ

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 23, 2023

Those who have had an opportunity to watch Hutson play for Boston University in the NCAA won’t be shocked by the play. Excellent plays have become the standard for Hutson, who has already scored eight goals and 12 assists in just 15 games this season.

It’s a continuation of his historic rookie season, which saw the defenceman earn 15 goals and 33 assists in 39 games.

Any way you cut it, Hutson is putting together the type of seasons that have little to no historical comparisons. In that sense, his play has been off the charts. But the players who came close to matching his offensive output in the NCAA have almost all turned out to be superstar defencemen, which bodes well for the 2022 second-round pick.

The 2024 World Junior Championship, which is taking place in Gothenburg, Sweden, could be Hutson’s opportunity to truly make his mark on the international stage.

However, it wouldn’t necessarily be surprising, given that the Montreal Canadiens prospect has excelled at every stage of his career, despite facing an unreasonable amount of criticism from people who can’t see beyond his 5’10” frame.