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Lane Hutson’s sophomore year went about as well as could have been expected last season as he played a huge role for the Habs. Does he have another level to get to in 2026-27?
2025-26
While he got off to a bit of a quiet start (which may or may not have been impacted by extension talks), it didn’t last long. A couple of weeks after he signed, he had a seven-game point streak, then was over the point-per-game mark in the second quarter of the season.
Towards the end of that second quarter is when Hutson started to get a lot more ice time. After being more in the 20-22-minute range early on, there were frequent nights of 26+. Considering how well he was playing, it was certainly justifiable. Production-wise, he stayed above a point-per-game clip in the third quarter of the campaign before slowing down in the final segment, though that still resulted in 15 points in 21 outings. Still, it’s fair to wonder if the higher usage was starting to wear on him.
One thing that the point totals don’t show that’s worth mentioning is that Hutson spent a fair bit of time on his off-side last season. With only Noah Dobson and Alexandre Carrier as right-shot options, several different players moved over at times. While all were poorer on the right (including Hutson), Hutson was still the best performer of the group. While having him there isn’t necessarily ideal, it’s nice to know that he can handle playing that side when called upon.
In the playoffs, he was the one top Montreal player who didn’t see a big step back production-wise relative to the regular season. Through the first two rounds, Hutson was at a point per game while logging over 26 minutes per night. He, like many, seemed to be worn down in the Carolina series and his minutes were managed a bit more but it’s fair to say that his first extended playoff run was successful.
Regular Season Stats: 82 GP, 12-66-78, +36, 34 PIMS, 2 PPG, 3 GWG, 124 shots, 23:46 ATOI
Playoff Stats: 19 GP, 3-13-16, -3, 12 PIMS, 1 PPG, 1 GWG, 30 shots, 25:27 ATOI
2 Year Averages
Hutson played only two games in his first professional season. That would really skew the averages so we’ll instead just focus on his two full campaigns.
GP: 82
Goals: 9
Assists: 63
Points: 72
+/-: +17
PIMS: 34
PPG: 2
GWG: 2
Shots: 108
2026-27 Role
Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Hutson will once again be a huge part of Montreal’s back end. That part isn’t in question. How he’s deployed, however, is a little in question.
In the preseason, we’ve seen him with Alexandre Carrier and David Reinbacher, anchoring a second pairing. Last year, we saw him see some time with Noah Dobson on a loaded top pairing, an experiment that worked well enough that they should run those two out together at times again this season. When Kaiden Guhle returns, will that push Hutson back to his off-side? And is this the year that Hutson passes Mike Matheson to lead the team in minutes or will they keep Matheson in that top role (in ATOI) again? None of these really affect his importance to the team but how Hutson is deployed isn’t as certain as it should seem for a top defender.
On special teams, Hutson was the quarterback on the top power play last season and there’s no reason to think that won’t continue. The presence of Dobson makes it that he won’t be a candidate to play both ends as Nick Suzuki did at times but Hutson will still be near the top of the team leaderboard in ice time with the man advantage. He played a little more shorthanded than his rookie year and it’s not that he can’t play there. It’s more that the Habs don’t want him to. Guhle’s injury could force their hand early on but after moving up to 28 seconds per game on average shorthanded, they probably don’t want that going up by too much more.
Projected Stats
It’s hard to say that a player with two years of NHL experience is a safe bet to reach a particular level offensively. However, it’s hard to say that Hutson isn’t a safe bet to be among the top offensive blueliners in the league once again this season, barring injury, of course.
One element that went a little under the radar last year was Hutson’s shot volume. He only attempted three more shots compared to his rookie year but his shots on goal total jumped up by 33. If he can sustain that level, hovering around 1.5 shots per game is reasonable, given that he’ll be around there in blocks as well. For leagues with those scoring categories, Hutson is going to be more than just a high assist player. That’s not a big ceiling-raiser in fantasy but it raises the floor.
Hutson’s ADP is a little over the map right now which is odd. He’s in the top 25 on Yahoo and CBS and outside the top 50 on ESPN while being in the middle on Fantrax. If you think he’s going to hover around the point-per-game mark again, he probably should be in that 18-25 range overall. He’s a viable number one defenceman in most formats and should be one of the first Habs off the board on draft night.
GP: 83
Goals: 10
Assists: 71
Points: 81
+/-: +24
PIMS: 36
PPG: 3
GWG: 2
Shots: 128
