What Makes Lane Hutson So Successful In the Playoffs

Corrado mentions that the fine line between a small defenseman who gets fizzled out of the league and Hutson is that the Habs defenseman competes like an animal every time he hits the ice, which allows him to find the edge against his opponents. According to Corrado, Hutson’s competitive level is like no other, and it helps him look like a star in any situation. For example, what Corrado gives is that if Hutson loses the puck, he won’t be afraid to fight for it against much bigger players to get it back. Add his work ethic to both his skill and his hockey sense, and then you get an unstoppable force. Corrado also mentioned that Hutson has the mindset that makes a 5’9 defenseman have the impact of a 6’4 player.

His work ethic is incredible, and Corrado has a good point that it separates him from the other defensemen, but he is also the smartest Habs player when it comes to hockey IQ, as he knows how to take advantage of his smaller size better than nearly every single defenseman around his size. This allows him to come out with the puck against bigger, stronger players. The truth is he could work like an animal but still lose his battles due to his size. However, with Hutson, he has figured out how to gain more strength from his level of gravity and will often be seen outmuscling his opponents by bodying them, coming from underneath to use the strength of gravity in the process.

The one recent play that explains just how great he is defensively by outsmarting his opponents was when he came out of the penalty box in Game 5, tracked down a 6’1″, 190 lb Anthony Cirelli, knocking him off the puck rather easily despite being 6 inches and 30 lbs lighter than the Lightning forward.

Hutson can also use his IQ to avoid getting hit as much as many other players, resulting in him finding more space on the ice to be able to create offence even in a tightly checked playoff game. The Lightning are also not giving him time to slow things down behind the net, and yet it hasn’t stopped him from being able to execute on his plays. A lot of that comes from the skill that he has by combining both the hockey sense and the insane work ethic, which creates the motor of his game.

The Habs defenseman’s motor is on a completely different level, to the point that he is like a computer two or three steps ahead of the competition. This is what can allow him to see the open lane that was needed to make that incredible stretch pass up ice to Alexandre Texier leading to the Game 5 winning goal. There aren’t many players that could complete that pass as flawlessly as Hutson, and that’s just part of his motor being that much ahead of everyone else.

While Hutson may be small in stature, he is far from a small player, as he has figured out ways to use his size to his advantage. This has only helped him transform into one of the best defensemen in the entire NHL after just 2 years in the league. His rare hockey brain mixed with his insane work ethic on the ice is why he got there so quickly and why playoff hockey will not be able to slow him down.