The historic beginnings and cadence of Lane Hutson

What is going on with the Montreal Canadiens? It’s Lane Hutson.

Last weekend, the National Hockey League (NHL) celebrated with great fanfare the 100th goal of the brilliant career of defenseman Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche.

Makar only needed 362 games to score this 100th goal. He thus became the fifth defenseman to reach this mark the fastest in NHL history after Bobby Orr (299 games), Paul Coffey (300), Raymond Bourque (329) and Denis Potvin (348).

In addition to the prestigious names of the members of the select club that Makar joined, it is remarkable that Bobby Orr’s 100th goal was scored in the early 1970s. And that, for their part, Potvin, Bourque and Coffey succeeded in their 100th goal in the late 1970s and early 1980s, during seasons where the average number of goals scored was sometimes close to four per game.

The NHL experienced an unprecedented offensive period between the early 1970s and early 1990s. It is not for nothing that 22 of the 25 best offensive seasons by defensemen were successful during this golden era.

Ultimately, this long passage of time makes Makar’s feat even more colossal. It’s been 55 years since a defender scored at such a rate in a defensive context comparable to that which prevailed in the era of Bobby Orr. Teams are averaging three goals per game this NHL season. They were scoring 3.12 per game when Orr scored his 100th goal.

To illustrate how exceptional Makar is, we must also add that since his debut in the NHL in 2019-2020, no defender has collected more points than him (388 in 363 games) nor maintained a better defensive record than him. his (+123). The Avalanche quarterback is also the only NHL back to average more than one point per game (1.07) during this period.

The first line of this column announced that it would be about Lane Hutson. Before getting there, however, I thought it important to remember how difficult it is, even for the best defender of our time, to slip his name into the same conversation as the great names of the 1970s and 1980s.

Many analysts often cite the progression of the defenseman position as an example to explain how hockey played today is superior to what we saw in the past. In particular, it is argued that modern fullbacks are faster than ever, more skillful too, and that the playing systems encourage them to constantly support the attack.

But in reality, it is still difficult for a defender to stand out on the offensive level. From one season to the next, despite the increase in the number of teams, there are only around 35 defenders who manage to score around forty points. This was also the case in the early 1980s and 1990s.

And among these approximately 35 so-called offensive defenders, barely half can be described as real quarterbacks. We’re talking about players who can move the puck in a way that creates space, generates scoring opportunities and makes their teammates better.

Now let’s talk about Lane Hutson.

With good reason, the Canadian’s spectacular rookie defender was quickly adopted by the team’s fans. By everyone in fact.

A lot of people are now trying to gauge whether Hutson (3-36-39) really deserves to be preferred over young forwards Macklin Celebrini (14-20-34, San Jose Sharks) and Matvei Michkov (14-20-34, of the Philadelphia Flyers) for obtaining the Calder Trophy.

There is still a lot of hockey to be played.

Except that when we evaluate Lane Hutson’s performance in a broader context, there isn’t even a picture.

To begin with, you should know that approximately 200 rookies have scored 14 goals in their first half-season in the NHL, as Celebrini and Michkov did.

But before this season, in NHL history, only 12 rookie defensemen had played at least 45 games while maintaining an average equal to or greater than 0.8 points per game. These 12 guards, including names like Raymond Bourque, Phil Housley, Chris Chelios and Al MacInnis, all played their first season between the late 1970s and early 1990s. All except Cale Makar.

However, after 47 games, Lane Hutson has an average of 0.83 points per game.

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It is worth emphasizing what it means for a defenseman, regardless of his age, to score 0.80 points per game in the NHL. Because guards capable of maintaining such a pace are almost as rare as those players capable of posting a 100-point season.

Moreover, over the last 15 seasons, 24 different attackers have achieved 100-point seasons, while 30 defenders have managed to maintain a rate of 0.8 points per game.

And among these 30 exceptional defenders, only one achieved the feat in his rookie season. And this phenomenon is called… Cale Makar!

We obviously don’t know if Lane Hutson will be able to maintain this pace until next April. But what we know is that since the start of the season he has produced statistics that could almost be described as historic.

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And since Lane Hutson evolves within an organization which is not devoid of history, it is not uninteresting to take a little step back in time and measure where he stands in relation to the Glorious of the past.

Since the start of the season, the dynamic CH recruit has participated in 27.27% of his team’s goals. Again, we don’t know if he will be able to maintain such a pace. What we do know, however, is that in the history of this team, no other defender has driven the attack so much.

During his two best offensive seasons, in 1976-1977 and 1985-1986, the great Larry Robinson participated in 21.96% and 24.84% of CH’s goals respectively. These two editions of the CH had, however, won the Stanley Cup and the offensive burden was better distributed than this season within the second youngest team in the NHL.

We must also agree that it is difficult to participate in 27% of your team’s goals when it scores 387, as was the case in 1976-1977.

In his best offensive season in Montreal, in 1988-1989, Chris Chelios collected 73 points and participated in 25.34% of the Habs’ goals. But like Robinson, Chelios was playing on one of the best teams in the NHL that season. CH lost in the final in the spring of 1989.

Among the more contemporary big guns, PK Subban (26% in 2012-2013) and Andrei Markov (26.6% in 2009-2010) were even closer to the nerve center that Lane Hutson currently occupies.

Note: Subban only played 42 games in 2012-13 because the season was shortened due to a lockout. His offensive production earned him the Norris Trophy. As for Markov, he participated in 26.6% of CH’s goals during the 45 matches he played in 2009-2010 since an injury caused him to miss more than two and a half months of activities. Lane Huston, who has already participated in 47 matches, has therefore already surpassed their performance.

In the end, what we must remember is that none of the great defenders in the history of the CH occupied a role as sensitive as Lane Hutson in his first season in the NHL.

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A little more than two and a half years ago, Lane Hutson showed up to the NHL evaluation camp with X-rays in his pocket to show team executives his growth plates. Afraid of being ignored because of his small size, he wanted to prove to them that he would still grow.

He finally had to wait until the end of the second round before being selected by the CH. If he has indeed grown a little since that time, the numbers he produces in his first steps in the NHL are titanic.

For almost two months, everyone has been trying to understand what bug could have bitten Martin St-Louis’ team so that it could experience such a sudden and unexpected rise.

Obviously, several factors explain this spectacular turnaround. But because of all of the above, the adrenaline rush that Hutson’s arrival inflicted on this team tops the list.