Lane Hutson has been a star for the Montreal Canadiens this season, quickly becoming one of the best offensive defensemen in the NHL. Although he has his defensive flaws, as we saw in Thursday night's game against the Detroit Red Wings, there are no problems on offense. Hutson leads all rookies with 39 points in 48 games and has put himself in the conversation with some of the league's best blueliners.
Hutson is one of the front-runners for the Calder Trophy this season, and no one is arguing that he still has plenty of room to grow. We recently covered a podcast appearance from Grant McCagg, in which he mentioned that Hutson could be the first 100-assist defenseman since Bobby Orr. I tried to tell fans to stop throwing too much expectation on the young defenseman, and a recent article from Stu Cowan in the Montreal Gazette should hammer home that point.
Hutson's first growth may not even be on the ice. It could be next season if his mother moves back home and stops living with him, as Julie Hutson's remote job allowed her to move to Montreal with Lane for this season. It's always funny to imagine an NHL player leaving the Bell Centre and having to go home to live with his parents as if he's still playing pee-wee hockey, but sometimes it's necessary for a player who has never lived by himself.
The 20-year-old would be under extra pressure to navigate those challenges as he contends with playing in one of the biggest hockey cities in the world. Having someone like his mother to look after the little things while he puts in one of the best rookie seasons in a Montreal sweater in recent memory is undoubtedly a massive contributor.
"“Between my husband, Lane and I, we all talked about it,” Julie said. “Lane didn’t want to live with a roommate or another player and we were like: ‘I don’t know about living by yourself in Montreal.’ It might be different if it was a team in the Midwest of the United States, where It wouldn’t have been much of a change. But given the size of the market, the language, just so many different layers we all decided it would probably be great if one of us came with him to be a little extra support system for him. He’s self-sufficient and doesn’t really need me, but I think it’s good until he gets comfortable in the city and builds the bonds and gets to know his teammates and the city better,” Julie added. “It has worked out great.”"Julie Hutson
Lane agreed with his mom's sentiments, telling Cowan, "Just having someone to talk with about everything,” he said about living with his mom. “It’s hard to not just have hockey ... I feel like when I got home I can kind of get away from it. So it’s nice to have her to talk about stuff."
Canadiens fans don't mind the set-up one bit, as anything that makes Lane feel more comfortable will only contribute to Montreal's playoff chase.