Montreal Canadiens Select Super Skilled Lane Hutson 62nd Overall

The Montreal Canadiens continue their busy 2022 NHL Draft by selecting Lane Hutson with the 62nd overall pick. The second round choice was acquired from the Edmonton Oilers for Brett Kulak at last year’s trade deadline.

While the Habs went with the big, physical, and skilled winger Juraj Slafkovsky to start the NHL Draft, they went with all skill here in the second round with Hutson.

Hutson played last season with the United States and is a supremely skilled puck moving defenceman. He scored ten goals and 63 points in 60 games for the USNTDP which put him just behind a few forwards who were first round picks.

His skating is excellent, his vision is incredible, his offensive instincts are completely off the charts. The only reason Hutson was available in the second round is because of his size. He is a 5’8″ defenceman who may have a difficult time defending against professional athletes in the future.

He was incredible at each of the past two World Under-18 tournaments, scoring a total of 13 points in 11 games at both events. He is certainly a bit of a project who needs to add muscle and develop physically before he can play at the NHL level, but his offensive ability is among the best in this draft.

Hutson will head to Boston University next season to begin his NCAA college career. He will have Canadins prospect Luke Tuch, a big physical winger to protect him while he is there and who knows, maybe in a couple of years he will do the same with the Canadiens at the NHL level.

It is fantastic to see the Canadiens gamble in the second round on an incredibly skilled offensive defenceman. The one thing that Habs always seem to lack is scoring, but Hutson will bring plenty of offence at whatever level he plays at in the future.

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