How big of a monster the Montreal Canadiens are building with their young core is open for debate. What isn’t is that it won’t become much of anything without Lane Hutson. The Canadiens knew that, and now don’t have to worry about that question after signing Huston to an eight-year, $70 million extension that kicks in after this season. In a short amount of time, that could look like an utter steal for the Habs.
Despite the drama of clinching their first real postseason berth in eight years (ain’t no one tryin’ to hear anything about 2020 or 2021) in the very last game last season, no one should confuse the ’24-’25 Canadiens with a good team. They were woeful possession-wise, ranking behind such giants as Seattle, Detroit, and Philadelphia in their shot-attempt share (Corsi), and finishing 28th in expected-goals share, worse than the likes of Buffalo and the Rangers, teams that were basically allergic to the puck and the opponents’ crease. They somewhat goofed the last playoff spot by shooting the lights out (9.6 shooting percentage) and some timely goaltending from Samuel Montembeault.
But they weren’t a wonky team when Hutson was on the ice. The pocket-sized dynamo turned the Canadiens into a possession-dominant team, running relative numbers in both Corsi and expected goals five percentage points above the rest of the team. He put them in the black.
One doesn’t need to use fancy-stats to see the value that Hutson has. There are few players with the speed, agility, and sense of whimsy that can turn them from defenseman to forward and back again within the same shift, that keeps defending teams guessing where he might pop up or where he might go with the puck. Hutson is a dervish all unto himself, an agent of chaos when Montreal has the puck that brings them from a limited team to an unpredictable one when Hutson is on the ice.
Hutson also is the one who makes their power play go, racking up 25 assists on the man-advantage last season. The Canadiens are unlikely to become a dominant 5-on-5 team anytime soon, and will need their power play to get them out of some jams to get back to the playoffs. Hutson dishing to talents like Ivan Demidov and Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki is certainly a good base for that.
Looking around his contemporaries, Hutson’s $8.8 million hit is barely a scratch on the Montreal salary cap going forward. It could be as low as 8 percent of their cap (and getting lower) for a difference-making, top pairing player. He’s a more dynamic player than Adam Fox, who will make $1 million more than him, or more, for the length of this deal. Which will be pretty funny when Hutson replaces Fox on Team USA sometime soon. He’ll make less than new teammate Noah Dobson. Hilariously, he’ll be paid less than Darnell Nurse. He comes in at just about the same rate as Luke Hughes, even though Hughes hasn’t taken top-pairing responsibility in New Jersey yet.
There are concerns with Hutson, for sure. He’s small, and can get buried beneath his goal line by a determined forecheck. He doesn’t break the Habs out of the zone as cleanly or as regularly as one might like yet. Teams are still happy to attack him at his blue line by carrying the puck against him.
There’s time to fix that. Hutson’s ability with the puck, and instincts on popping up all over the offensive zone can’t be taught. He can transform shifts and games by doing things d-men aren’t supposed to do. He will be the main driver of whatever the Canadiens become. After this extension, they don’t even have to pay him like it.
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