Lane Hutson only played two games with the Canadian, the last two from last season. Despite this limited experience in the NHL, the 20-year-old American defender is causing controversy.

• Read also: Kent Hughes has already been warned by the NHL

On the one hand, some see him as a candidate for Rookie of the Year in the Bettman Circuit. On the other hand, we wonder if he should start the season in the American League.

In the middle we find Pierre McGuire. The Sportsnet analyst put forward the idea that Martin St-Louis should systematically dress seven defenders in each game to protect Hutson, allow him to slowly get used to the pace of the NHL and make him a specialist in mass attacks.

“I don’t want to hide Lane Hutson and make him a power play specialist. “We want to make Lane Hutson the best defenseman he can be,” said Kent Hughes, guest of Tony Marinaro, on BPM Sports on Tuesday morning.

A contrary reaction would have been surprising.

Let’s say his head coach doesn’t like this strategy. Neither do the vast majority of his colleagues. In January 2023, he had to resort to it due to the numerous injuries he sustained in the attack.

The same thing happened last year in three meetings during the holiday season. Then Christian Dvorak fell in battle and St-Louis had no other choice.

But in an ideal world, the good old formula of 12 attackers and six defenders prevails.

The Carlson Plan

Would Hutson definitely adapt adequately to the pace of the NHL if he were to limit himself almost exclusively to mass offense?

Last year, the Habs played 418 minutes with the man advantage. Divided by 82 games, that’s a little over five minutes per game. Let’s say it limits study time. Plus, the poor guy’s feet will be freezing.

Older players will remember Marko Kiprusoff, whom the Canadian brought from Finland in the fall of 1995 to give him this kind of mission. Miikka’s big brother didn’t last long. The experiment lasted just 24 games. We never saw him again.

If the Habs want to gradually bring their 2022 second-round pick into the NHL, it would be more profitable to copy the plan the Ducks tried to use with Leo Carlsson last year.

To help his first choice adjust to his new life, Pat Verbeek had determined that he would begin the season averaging just two games per week, and that there was no question that he would play two games on that many nights.

Since Carlson suffered some injuries along the way, it is unclear how long this diet would have lasted.

First, the fight

But the idea isn’t stupid. First, because it allows the young player to play at a pace closer to the forty games he plays in the NCAA. Fewer games mean more practice on the ice and more hours in the gym.

It also means that he has to deal with the full range of possible game situations in every game he plays.

Before Hutson addresses that question, he needs to crack the main lineup. Despite the move of Jordan Harris, the left wing is occupied by Mike Matheson, Kaiden Guhle and Arber Xhekaj. And he will wrestle against Jayden Struble.

However, Guhle played to the right of Matheson in the second half of the season.

In cooperation with our partners