Lane Hutson predicted the Canadiens wouldn’t care about his size. He has proven himself right

MONTREAL — When Lane Hutson arrived at the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo two years ago, he came armed with data and medical evidence to answer the No. 1 question he knew he would face.

But he also came with the confidence that he didn’t need that evidence. All the evidence he needed could be found on his game cartridge.

Hutson spoke to only 16 teams in the combine that year, meaning half the league couldn’t have even bothered conversation to him prior to the NHL Draft, let alone entertain the thought of drafting him.

Each of those 16 teams received a report from an endocrinologist about Hutson’s bone age, how he still had 18 months to grow and that his 6-foot-4 frame at that point could be as big as 5-11 by the time he reached the reached NHL. . When Hutson walked into a meeting room in Buffalo for a meeting The Athletics That year at the combine, he was ready to spew that same information.

But deep down, Hutson didn’t care about that endocrinologist’s report. He didn’t care about his bone age. He knew his game tape was all the proof he needed.

“It was an idea that my advisors and my parents gave me,” Hutson admitted at the time when asked if the report interested him. “I haven’t thought about it too much, but I obviously respect what they have to say, and they thought it would be a good idea.

“I’m not done growing yet so it’s good for teams to know that, but for me I’m still trying to play the same way and let’s see what happens.”

The Montreal Canadiens did their homework. They gathered enough information during the draft cycle to be confident that Hutson would be available with pick No. 62 in the 2022 draft. They had already drafted Juraj Slafkovský at No. 1 overall, passing Hutson at No. 26 and Filip Mešár, and passed him again at number 33 taking Owen Beck with him. They then waited almost the entire second round of the draft to see if their gamble would pay off.

Hutson was still there, just as they predicted.

It’s been 28 months since Hutson told half the teams in the NHL that he had 18 months to grow, and since then he’s grown less than 2 inches, as measured at Canadiens training camp at 5-9 and 3 /4 inches and 162 pounds. .

It’s safe to assume the Canadiens aren’t asking for a refund based on false advertising. They never cared about Hutson’s size. They were always more interested in Hutson’s brain. We now see why. And honestly, then we could see why.

“When I want to get a puck, I usually take a look and get an idea of ​​what’s happening before I even touch the puck,” Hutson said during the 2022 game. “Then I have an idea of ​​what I want to do , but then there are also seven different options, eight different options that I could do. I usually go with one of the first options I see, and when that option closes, I move on to my next option.

Lane Hutson had two goal assists in Montreal’s 4-1 win over the Senators on Saturday. (Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Fast forward to Saturday night’s 4-1 win against the Ottawa Senators – snapping the Canadiens’ nine-game losing streak to their division rivals – and coach Martin St. Louis was asked about 80 questions about Hutson after the game, because, as Cole Caufield said, “He deserves all the hype.”

St. Louis didn’t dodge any questions. He sees what everyone else sees in Hutson, and he understands why there are so many questions about him. He also thinks the hype is justified, because Hutson creates an incredible amount of excitement, not only among the fans or the media, but also within his team.

“He understands small pockets of space and he has the sticks to manage those spaces, and the deception,” St. Louis said. “He has good qualities that encourage ball possession. And the extension of that is that his skills allow him to make many plays on the ice, but these allow him not only to make plays, but also to make the best plays. The best players can do that, they make the best game, not just any game.”

That goes back to what Hutson said in 2022, right? About seeing seven or eight different options?

But then St. Louis continued, and what he said next was remarkable for an NHL rookie.

“You have to evolve the game a little bit, and he can do that because of those skills,” he said. “And I think the more his teammates get reps with him, they’ll go to certain spots, it’ll be more fluid.”

An NHL rookie is expected to adapt to the NHL and adapt to his teammates. It is extremely rare to hear an NHL coach, one who is in the Hockey Hall of Fame as a player, say that the NHL players the rookie plays with have to adapt to the rookie.

But St. Louis always talks about telling the truth, and this is the truth. The way Hutson sees the game and is able to manipulate that vision with his skills is unique to him and will be beneficial to his Canadiens teammates.

Hutson had two assists against the Senators on Saturday and now has four points in his last two games and six points in five NHL games. But more important than that is that Hutson’s defensive play hasn’t been a problem at all. Does he sometimes look muscular? Of course he does. But the number of times he uses his skating, intelligence and good stick to break up plays far outweighs the instances where his size is a disadvantage for him.

And again, this is something Hutson foresaw at the 2022 combine.

“I’m competitive in all three zones and I don’t want to lose puck battles, I don’t want to get beat,” he said at the time. “I really take pride in the way I defend, and one thing I think I do pretty well is keep guys out with my skates and my stick and not give them easy ice. I feel like I have an influence on guys, I sit a little lower on the ice, I can push on their hips, get under them and move the pucks up quickly.

That’s exactly what’s happening now.

As it turned out, Hutson didn’t need that endocrinologist’s report to hand out to the 16 NHL teams that wanted to talk to him in the combine. He didn’t have to defend his size, he just had to accentuate the elements of his game that have always allowed him to succeed.

Playing for a coach who has had to go through the same thing, who always had to defend his size and prove he can play and get into the Hall of Fame, has helped.

“I take pride in seeing the smaller players in the league,” St. Louis said. “I feel like there were players who helped me with that, I feel like I was part of that too, and the league has gone through some kind of transition.

“They just took everyone who could play, not that you had to be a certain height to ride.”

Hutson is on the great roller coaster that is now the NHL. He will undoubtedly have his ups and downs, just like any rookie. But that won’t be because he’s small. That’s because he’s a newcomer learning the ins and outs of the toughest competition in the world.

His size, something that has defined him in the eyes of so many throughout his life, is already in the rearview mirror.

“Are Real nice,” Hutson said Saturday evening. “I don’t worry about my size, I never have, but it’s nice not to have to explain it to people or do all that anymore. The team I joined, the team I’m with now, couldn’t have been a better place. We’ve got Cole here, and Marty’s running the bench.

“He understands, and he looks at me like I’m one of the guys and not a smaller player.”

It turns out that 2022 endocrinologist was wrong about Hutson’s bone age.

Hutson didn’t care then, and he doesn’t care now. Neither do the Canadians.

(Top photo by Lane Hutson: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)