Habs Daily: Demidov Usage, Lane Hutson Excellence, Bad Starts

Here are the Montreal Canadiens news items, highlights, and stories you may have missed on Thursday,

Montreal Canadiens News

Ivan Demidov’s usage in the KHL has been questionable to say the least. But despite the archaic approach in Saint Petersburg, the top Montreal Canadiens prospect is dealing with the unreasonable adversity with maturity beyond his years. [The Silver Lining To Ivan Demidov And His Ridiculous KHL Usage]

For the nth time this season, the Canadiens stumbled out of the blocks. They gifted the Philadelphia Flyers an early lead, and this time around they ran out of gas before mounting a comeback. Several players struggled in the loss. More accurately, almost everyone but Lane Hutson looked terrible on Thursday night. Hutson registered his 50th and 51st assist of the year in the disheartening 6-4 loss. [Habs Highlights: Another Embarrassing Start Hurts Playoff Odds]

Speaking of Hutson, not only did he put together another multipoint effort, he was also the best player when it came to his on-ice impact.

NHL GameScore Impact Card for Montreal Canadiens on 2025-03-27: pic.twitter.com/MgiMzM8HJl

— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) March 28, 2025

There’s still a pretty good chance Hutson can tie, or even pass Larry Murphy’s record-setting rookie season. For what it’s worth, Murphy had three players who scored more than 100 points in his lineup, whereas the Habs only have one player who has scored more than 70 points this season (Nick Suzuki), connoting Hutson’s offensive potential is yet to be established. A little more talent up front would lead to a lot more production on the back end.

We should also note the graphic tweeted by Mike Kelly at 4:55 pm ET is already considerably out of date. With 5 goals and 51 assists to his credit, Hutson is now on pace for a 6-goal, 59-assist season.

Canadiens vs Flyers tonight…
Lane Hutson is on pace for 57 assists this season and is within striking distance to set the record for most by a rookie D in NHL history… pic.twitter.com/B34eFrHnJm

— Mike Kelly (@MikeKellyNHL) March 27, 2025

This is now a Lane Hutson praise thread, which means it’s time for another fun Hutson fact!

Every player with 45+ points and 45+ takeaways this season:

— Mitch Marner
— Cale Makar
— Jake Sanderson
— Lane Hutson pic.twitter.com/eq60T3mJ1h

— StatMuse Hockey (@statmusehockey) March 27, 2025

Unsurprisingly, Hutson hit the nail on the head when discussing the team’s biggest issue at the moment.

Lane Hutson tonight on the Habs slow starts:

“We just gotta find a way to start on time. I think it’s pretty unacceptable to not be ready to play. We all just gotta be better & ready to play.” pic.twitter.com/4Xuq1QOExc

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) March 28, 2025

National Hockey Now Network

The Philadelphia Flyers and general manager Daniel Briere shockingly decided to fire head coach John Tortorella on Thursday, with just nine games remaining in the season. And then what happened? [Philadelphia Flyers]

For a guy who’s grown up in an era of MP3s and Spotify, evidently Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond knows what it sounds like when the record’s stuck. And boy, is his team ever stuck in a bad groove. [Detroit Red Wings]

Greatness recognize greatness. Washington Capitals megastar Alex Ovechkin made sure he and his teammates feted goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury Thursday at the end of a game in which the Capitals lost and Fleury didn’t even play. [Pittsburgh Penguins]