The Montreal Canadiens just might have hit a huge home run in the 2022 NHL Draft. Nevermind who they picked first overall, or who they took later in the first round.
It is not even who they took to begin the second round of the draft either, but Juraj Slafkovsky, Filip Mesar and Owen Beck do look like they could all turn into impact NHL players. But they may not have the same impact as the 62nd overall selection.
Lane Hutson fell to the end of the second round, and the Canadiens were happy to scoop him up at that point in the draft. Hutson is an undersized defenceman but he put up incredible offensive numbers leading into the draft and is having a lot of success at the NCAA level this season as well.
Now, it is still early, as Boston University played its 12th game of the season last night. But that is basically one-third of the way through a college hockey schedule and Hutson is piling up offense every night.
The 5’9″ and 155 pound defender fell as far as he did because of his slender frame, but he is adding muscle and is making opponents look silly with his puck skills.
Hutson added another pair of goals last night, his 5th and 6th of the season and he now has 14 points as well, keeping him above a point per game pace on the season. He displayed a lot of the skills that have made him successful on the goal as well.
He picks up the puck in his own zone and deftly weaves around a defender at the red line. He then gains the attacking zone with possession and finds some open ice in the high slot to cut through. This gives him a few options and he finds an open teammate on the wing.
Hutson fires a quick pass and then accelerates through the Notre Dame defence to get open at the front of the net. The puck is sent back to him and he quickly redirects the puck into the net to open the scoring for Boston University.
This tip by Lane 🤌
— BU Men's Hockey (@TerrierHockey) November 23, 2022
📺 @ESPNU@hockey_east | @espn pic.twitter.com/dpEIbE3VsB
His second of the night showed off his quick feet as well. Hutson gets the puck at the point and shuffles across the blue line, keeping a defender guessing as to whether he was going to continue along the line or dart into the zone. He elected to go wide before moving the puck to a teammate in the slot.
That led to a shot attempt that missed the net but fortunately landed near Hutson as he circled behind the net. He scooped up the puck and cut out front before sending home a wrist shot in a wide open net behind a surprised netminder.
Second goal of the night for Lane!
— BU Men's Hockey (@TerrierHockey) November 24, 2022
Deuxième but de la nuit pour Lane!
📺 ESPNU@hockey_east | @espn pic.twitter.com/FgCPZ64smh
That gives him six goals on the season which puts the 18 year old freshman in third place among defencemen in goals as well as third in points per game among defenders in the country. That is quite impressive work for a young player in the college ranks.
It is still early, but Hutson is scoring at a higher point per game than some of the best offensive defenceman in the NHL did when they were freshmen in college. Adam Fox, Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar scored at less than the 1.17 points per game Hutson is scoring at right now.
That isn’t to say that Hutson is going to be the next Fox or Makar, but it does show how incredible the Canadiens second round prospect has been for Boston University.
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