Montreal Canadiens: Watch Lane Hutson Score OT Winner In Season Opener

The Montreal Canadiens seem to have struck gold with their 2022 second-round selection, who was available outside of the first round because of concerns about his size.

With a brilliant NCAA rookie season with the Boston University Terriers, Lane Hutson’s stock rose throughout his first year, and his strong play translated to the World Hockey Championships with Team USA. He broke a record held by Brian Leetch for points from a rookie defenseman, with his 48 points (15 goals & 33 assists) through 39 games.

Hopes among Canadiens fans, and of course for the Terriers are that Hutson continues to be a brilliant offensive defenseman. He started his sophomore year on Saturday night, wearing an A on his sweater, and he wasted little time getting up to his old tricks. First, he assisted Macklin Celebrini’s first career college goal.

Then he labelled an absolute snipe for twine and put the finishing touches on a very strong season debut. He had a goal and an assist and was involved in everything, making defenders miss and showing off his great mobility. There looked to be some nice chemistry that formed with Celebrini throughout the game, which is exactly what every Habs fan wanted to hear.

Expectations are high for Hutson in year two, and if you look at what he did in his rookie year, it’s self-inflicted. He was brilliant and showed all the signs of a future number-one power-play quarterback and top-pairing defender. The reigning NCAA (New England) Most Valuable Player and Rookie of The Year, also earned Hobey Baker votes, and he has to be a favourite to win it in year two.

From warm-ups on he looked like he was ready to take a big step, and start his season off with a bang. And poised to pick back up where he left off at the end of the 2022-23 season. He put on a display of his puck skills, which were impressive, especially for a defender. 

If he can continue his growth and upward trajectory, I don’t see why he wouldn’t have a strong chance of winning the Hobey Baker Award. Not only that, I don’t think that he will play in the NCAA after his sophomore season. He just needs to add some muscle to his frame and continue to be quick and deceptive with his skating and head fakes.

Hutson is back to his old ways, the Canadiens sunk the Senators on the final night of their preseason, and the regular season is just ahead. The thought of Hutson running the powerplay and firing the puck around on the top powerplay with Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Kirby Dach among others, is very intriguing.

With each strong performance, the sense of Hutson becoming a massive piece for the Canadiens blueline becomes increasingly more positive.

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