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Where are you, Lane?
David Kirouac-Imagn Images

Where are you, Lane?

Originally posted on Dose.ca  |  Last updated Nov 14, 2025 12:55 PM ET

Lane Hutson is one of the Canadiens’ best players, and that’s nothing new.

He became really important to the team the moment he arrived in town because the defenseman was quickly able to enjoy success in the National League. Especially offensively.

After all, he did win the Calder in 24-25. And God knows, that’s quite a feat for a player who plays on the blue line.

Except that for the past week and a half, he’s been unrecognizable.

The main man has just one meagre assist in his last four games… and his minus-8 differential during that period is dreadful.

In fact, he’s minus-7 in his last two games. Yesterday, he finished the game against the Stars at minus-4… and the advanced statistics show that he was the Canadiens’ worst defensive player.

It’s not even close.

Pierre McGuire summed it up well on Tony Marinaro’s Sick Podcast: right now, we’re not seeing the Lane Hutson we usually see. Why not? That’s a good question.

But it’s true that he’s having a tougher time on the ice. His defensive shortcomings have attracted a lot of attention in recent games, and he’s not been as effective offensively either.

Which begs the question: Where are you, Lane?

The good news is that we know this problem isn’t due to his level of effort.

The little defenseman is always the first to jump on the ice before practice, and it’s not uncommon for him to be the last one off the ice either. At this level, there’s nothing to worry about… and we see him giving a lot of effort in games too.

That said, it may just be a bad patch… but it’s still a very bad patch. He’s got to get his rhythm back, he’s got to start trusting his skills again… and indirectly, he’s also got to be more careful when he’s in his zone, because it hasn’t been great lately.

But he knows that. And it’s up to him to take action to get things back on track.


Overtime

– Of note.

– Reminder: the Penguins and Preds meet today… in Sweden!

– Love this.

– Really?

This article first appeared on Dose.ca and was syndicated with permission.

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