Lane Hutson this, Lane Hutson that. It looks like a tree hiding the forest from the brigade of Canadian defenders. You can imagine that the great fan of analogies that is Martin St-Louis is getting into the game.
“It takes more than a tree,” he continues, laughing.
“When we have a forest, that means we are in good shape. This is what we are trying to build. It takes different trees, it takes good roots.
“I think we have this.”
Develop your strengths
Kaiden Guhle is one of these trees. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves, but he is to defense what Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield are to offense. A young player who brings a lot and who hasn’t finished growing.
St-Louis has witnessed its evolution almost since its debut in the National League. He had held the position of head coach of the Canadiens since February 2022 when Guhle arrived in Montreal the following fall.
“At first, I saw his skating, it helped him in his defensive game,” says St-Louis.
“At the same time, it was tiring for the opponent. We know that he has an offensive side and that he will continue to evolve in this regard.
“Hutson has a defensive side that he will continue to develop.”
The coach continues his speech in the same direction.
“We ask Kaiden to restart the attack, to make a good first pass,” said St-Louis.
“Lane is asked to win his one-on-one battles. Both players have strengths that we help develop in order to make them more complete players.”
Guhle, however, has a strength that Hutson will never possess. He sometimes applies solid checks.
We saw him in the opening moments of last Monday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks, when he sent Jonathan Lekkerimaki to the roses. He was only allowed two of the four hits he dealt in this match.
His physical involvement was among the qualities that prompted Marc Bergevin’s management committee to make him their first round pick in 2020.
