{"id":424901,"date":"2026-01-24T04:28:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T04:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/424901\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T04:28:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T04:28:14","slug":"martin-st-louis-latest-lineup-decision-is-putting-lane-hutson-in-a-really-tough-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/424901\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin St-Louis’ latest lineup decision is putting Lane Hutson in a really tough spot"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t \"Jan <\/p>\n

Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The handling of Jayden Struble by Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis is far from done generating debate.<\/p>\n

One decision by Martin St-Louis is being pointed out, because it directly affects his young defenseman Lane Hutson.<\/p>\n

We’re talking about a change of sides.<\/p>\n

Hutson ends up on the right side, while Jayden Struble keeps his spot on the left.<\/p>\n

Martin St-Louis is doing this to help and accommodate Struble, but in the process, it hurts Hutson, badly. Really badly!<\/p>\n

A decision that is far from unanimous!<\/p>\n

“Lane Hutson was playing some of his best hockey on his natural left side.<\/p>\n

And Martin St-Louis moved Hutson to the right side to accommodate Jayden Struble.”<\/p>\n

– HabsOnReddit<\/p>\n

Keeping Jayden Struble in the lineup is hurting Lane Hutson<\/p>\n

The issue is that Hutson had indeed just been putting together strong games, and many fans felt it was simple.<\/p>\n

You leave the kid in his comfort zone, you keep things stable, and you move forward.<\/p>\n

Now the debate suddenly comes back, and Struble becomes a name attached to the discussion.<\/p>\n

Last season, Hutson played 82 games, recorded 66 points, and won the Calder Trophy.<\/p>\n

When a guy puts up a season like that, every adjustment becomes important.<\/p>\n

Struble, for his part, is not just a depth player either. In 2024-25, he played 56 games, with 13 points and a +2 rating. The year before, again 56 games, 10 points, and a -3 rating.<\/p>\n

But the heart of the controversy is the timing.<\/p>\n

When Hutson is the spark plug of the group, you want to avoid putting a rock in his skate.<\/p>\n

You can like Struble, you can want to help him, but Montreal is in a tight race in the standings, and the atmosphere is not one for unnecessary experimentation.<\/p>\n

The message, at its core, is simple.<\/p>\n

Fans want the Habs to give themselves the best possible chances right now, not in two weeks.<\/p>\n

If the decision helps the group, perfect.<\/p>\n

If it starts frustrating Hutson and complicating his night, it will come back like a boomerang – and Martin St-Louis knows it.<\/p>\n

Previously on Montreal Hockey Fanatics<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images The handling of Jayden Struble by Montreal Canadiens head coach…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424902,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[407,2881,5,410,502,412,40,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-424901","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-arber-xhekaj","9":"tag-defenseman","10":"tag-hockey","11":"tag-jayden-struble","12":"tag-lane-hutson","13":"tag-martin-st-louis","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115948192768308816","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424901","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=424901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}