Oliver Kapanen and Lane Hutson show they belong in preseason opener

During this preseason, the Oliver Kapanen and Lane Hutson hype has reached unimaginable levels. It started for Kapanen in last June's World Championship when he led Team Finland in goals and finished near the top of the tournament ranks. Olli Jokinen, his coach in Europe, believed it was a foregone conclusion that he'd make the Montreal Canadiens out of training camp. We also all know how crazy the Hutson excitement has gotten. The chances of him making the team increase daily, and after Monday night's performance against Philadelphia, it's hard to see how he won't.

Lane Hutson shows confidence, poise

It'd be okay if Hutson showed some growing pains as he tried to navigate NHL life. He shouldn't be able to dominate in the offensive zone right away, like in college, which would have been acceptable. However, Hutson was a force on Monday night, and it's hard to believe how comfortable he looks. There were attacking sequences where he looked like a star, and he already has some chemistry built with Patrik Laine.

The Canadiens shared a small snippet of this shift, but the ten seconds doesn't do it justice. The puck kept coming to Hutson's stick for at least 30 seconds, and the Canadiens didn't relinquish possession. Hutson found Laine for numerous chances and followed it up with the same performance on the powerplay. Laine couldn't find the back of the net, but the powerplay quarterback finding the shooter on the flank was a nice change-up from some of last year's issues.

Hutson played 21:19, was a +2, and registered two assists. He was also the game's first star.

Jake Evans and Christian Dvorak should be worried about Oliver Kapanen

I tried not to buy into the Kapanen hype as it seemed like an easy move to send him back to Sweden for a season while Jake Evans and Christian Dvorak played the final year of their deals. The Canadiens will likely try to bring Evans back, but they'd let Dvorak walk and give Kapanen another look next season.

I found it interesting that Kapanen was the first center over the boards on the team's first penalty kill. Then, he was the first one over again on the next penalty kill. He was a force on both kills and showed he could be a versatile bottom-six forward this season. I believed the Canadiens would stay loyal to Evans, but it'd be hard to do when Kapanen is better than him in every facet.

It wasn't just Kapanen's work in puck protection and penalty killing where he stood out. Kapanen also showed unbelievable poise on the attack, which a player in his first NHL game shouldn't have. It led to a beautiful assist on Alex Barre-Boulet's goal to make it 5-0.

Kapanen ended the game with the second star, but it was a 1A/1B situation with him and Hutson. However, the second star doesn't mean anything at the end of the day. Kapanen left with something much more important, and that's a much easier road to making the opening night roster.