{"id":159748,"date":"2025-08-15T07:19:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T07:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/159748\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T07:19:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T07:19:10","slug":"canadiens-legend-makes-bold-guy-lafleur-take-on-lane-hutson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/159748\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadiens legend makes bold Guy Lafleur take on Lane Hutson"},"content":{"rendered":"

The post Canadiens legend makes bold Guy Lafleur take on Lane Hutson<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With just 84 regular-season NHL games under his belt with the Montreal Canadiens<\/a>, the impact made by Lane Hutson has already earned praise<\/a> from two of the franchise\u2019s greatest legends. Eight-time Stanley Cup champion Serge Savard called him probably the most talented player the Canadiens have had since Guy Lafleur.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTime will tell, but he\u2019s probably the most talented player the Canadiens have had since\u00a0Guy Lafleur,\u201d Savard said, according to NHL.com.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Hall of Famer Larry Robinson compared the doubts about his size to those once directed at Wayne Gretzky.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing everyone said about Hutson was that he was so small he was going to get killed,\u201d he said, quoted by the French-language Journal de Montreal. \u201cIt reminds me a lot of what people used to say in Wayne Gretzky\u2019s day. They said he wasn\u2019t big enough and that he was going to get hurt. Look at what he\u2019s done, it\u2019s not so bad!<\/p>\n

Standing 5-foot-9 and weighing 162 pounds, Hutson led all rookies in points (66) and assists (60) last season, winning the Calder Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year. He tied Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes for second among defensemen in assists, trailing only Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche. The Michigan native also finished ninth in Norris Trophy voting and helped Montreal reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2021, recording five assists in the first-round series against Washington.<\/p>\n

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Savard highlighted Hutson\u2019s ability to handle high-pressure situations despite his stature, noting how he avoids larger opponents with agility and composure. The former Canadiens defenseman remarked during his annual golf tournament, featuring hockey greats Bobby Orr, Darryl Sittler, and Scotty Bowman. Robinson agreed, saying Hutson\u2019s style and resilience are \u201cexciting for the city of Montreal\u201d and reminiscent of some of the game\u2019s all-time greats.<\/p>\n

Contract negotiations between Hutson and the Canadiens are progressing positively as he enters the final year of his entry-level deal. Drafted 62nd overall in the 2022 NHL Draft, Hutson is considered a cornerstone of Montreal\u2019s defensive core alongside<\/a> Noah Dobson, Kaiden Guile, Jayden Struble, and veteran Mike Matheson.<\/p>\n

An ideal extension could be worth around seven years and $56 million, securing a player who has already proven he can excel at both ends of the ice. With the Eastern Conference less daunting than in recent years, Montreal\u2019s young blue line, led by Hutson, can push the team back into contention. Keeping Hutson long-term would be the next key step toward that goal.<\/p>\n

Related: Canadiens rumors: Montreal\u2019s trade strategy tied to Carey Price<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The post Canadiens legend makes bold Guy Lafleur take on Lane Hutson appeared first on ClutchPoints. With just…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159749,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5103],"tags":[1116,265,144,10082,5,410,27703,502,27702,1192,264,21,5147,4,778,1496,27322,27704,27],"class_list":{"0":"post-159748","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-montreal-canadiens","8":"tag-cale-makar","9":"tag-canadiens","10":"tag-colorado-avalanche","11":"tag-guy-lafleur","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-jayden-struble","14":"tag-journal-de-montreal","15":"tag-lane-hutson","16":"tag-larry-robinson","17":"tag-mike-matheson","18":"tag-montreal","19":"tag-montreal-canadiens","20":"tag-montrealcanadiens","21":"tag-nhl","22":"tag-noah-dobson","23":"tag-quinn-hughes","24":"tag-serge-savard","25":"tag-talented-player","26":"tag-vancouver-canucks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115031570094304355","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}