Alexandre Burrows, assistant coach of the Montreal Canadiens, was very impressed with the NHL debuts of young defensemen Lane Hutson and Logan Mailloux.

Hutson, fresh out of the American university, played the last two games of the Habs’ regular schedule. Mailloux, who spent the season with the Laval Rockets, was able to make his debut on Tuesday night against the Red Wings.

“He was very exciting,” Burrows said of Hutson during an interview on “JiC.”

He said he was particularly impressed by Hutson’s speed and confidence with the puck, which can do a lot in very little space.

“We saw the sequence yesterday where he went down the blue line, passed the puck between his legs in front of Ben Chiarot, turned it over on a dime, passed to Cole (Caufield), passed to (Juraj) Slafkovsky (. . .) Those are things you don’t see from an experienced offensive defenseman, let alone a young 19- to 20-year-old.”

“I think he still needs to get stronger physically, but it’s very exciting to see how he performed, the offensive flashes he showed,” he added. Defensively, I also think he defended very well with his positioning and his stick.

He believes Hutson has a good summer of training ahead of him and he has no doubt that the young American full-back will be up to the task

“It will be scary”

Burrows also raved about Mailloux, who, with his great size, has completely different qualities than the much more frail Hutson. He particularly liked a scene in which the Ontarian demonstrated his robustness against the Red Wings on Tuesday night.

“The film I like best is (Lucas) Raymond in the second section,” he explained. He got to the edge of the tape and nipped it away from you. Raymond fell on his butt. I immediately gave Trevor Letowski a shove and said, ‘That hurts.’ Even small, harmless games have their value.”

Burrows revealed that the Habs development team was very pleased with the work Mailloux did in Laval.

“We see that there is progress in his game, both offensively and defensively,” he emphasized. We see in his body a mixture of Lyle Odelein, Shea Weber and Mike Komisarek. Attractions that are very positive for the organization.”

“He’s got Shea Weber on his nose,” he insisted. As he gains confidence and knows the league a little better, I think he’ll scare several opposing attackers.

During the interview, the team discussed Nick Suzuki’s excellent work in 2023-2024, Juraj Slafkovsky’s impressive progress, the group’s insights, his future behind the team bench, and even his predictions for the upcoming playoffs.

Watch the full interview in the main video.

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