The Montreal Canadiens have found themselves a hidden gem in the 2022 NHL Draft. Lane Hutson, the 62nd overall pick, is quickly making a name for himself as one of the most exciting prospects in the sport.
The 19-year-old freshman at Boston University is already turning heads with his 38 points in 29 games, good enough for seventh in the nation. His 1.31 points per game is up there with the likes of 2022 lottery picks Logan Cooley and Jimmy Snuggerud. He has earned Hockey East Defender of the Month in October and November, Hockey East Player of the Week and Hockey East Rookie of the Week on two occasions.
The first thing one notices when watching Hutson play is his elite puck-handling and comfort with the puck on his stick. His head is always up, scanning the ice and adjusting his stride to move into space and create chance after chance in both the neutral and offensive zones. His shiftiness from the point is reminiscent of Quinn Hughes, while his ability to move around the offensive zone and pick out a teammate for a scoring chance is a skill mastered by Adam Fox.
At 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds, Hutson doesn’t have the size of the prototypical NHL defenseman, but he makes up for it with his unique skill set. He is as good as it gets when walking the blue line, and his ability to deceive his opponents with quick hands and fast-twitch movements make him a threat to opposing teams.
His weaker play in transition means he does not yet possess the full skillset expected from a hyper-mobile top defensemen, but Elite Prospects’ Mitchell Brown is confident Hutson’s ceiling in the NHL is as a No. 1 offensive defenseman. Much of that, though, will depend on how the 19-year-old develops his skating and strength to make him a threat in all three zones of the ice.
Hutson has starred—and produced—at every level he’s played at so far in his young career. He registered a total of 90 points over two years with the USNTDP, good enough for fourth all-time for defensemen, ahead of former standouts like Fox and Hughes. The Michigan native also tallied four points in seven games at the 2023 World Juniors as the United States took home the bronze medal. He’s now tearing up the NCAA’s Hockey East conference, and is poised to put up big numbers in the NHL one day if he continues on this trajectory.
The Montreal Canadiens found themselves a gem in the 2022 NHL Draft and it looks like Lane Hutson is ready to become the NHL’s next great playmaking defenseman.
