This morning, colleague Charles-Alexis Brisebois talked about the case of Lane Hutson, affirming that the youngster’s offensive production means that he can be forgiven for his differential.
This is a fairly synthesized summary of his argument, but nonetheless, he made a good point.
For each match like the one on Saturday night, Hutson makes CH win 3-4 almost single-handedly. His vision and passing skills are already elite.
And today, Grant McCagg also spoke about the defenseman, noting that he is currently on pace to amass 63 assists this season. This would be a record in NHL history for a first-year defender.
He then moved on for a bit…until he opened the door to a world in which Hutson could possibly get 100 assists in a season.
It should be noted that McCagg spoke of 100 mentions d’assistance and not 100 points. 100 points for a defenseman has been seen several times in the history of the league (Erik Karlsson did it during his last year in San Jose)… but 100 assists is another pair of sleeves.
In fact, in the history of the league, it’s been done…once. Bobby Orr had 102 in 1970-71, but otherwise no defenseman in league history had more than 90 assists in a season.
-Obviously, this is not the standard to expect from the defender. As good as he is, those are unrealistic expectations… but if he’s on track to amass 63 assists as a rookie, seeing him hit another gear and go for more (70-80, for example) doesn’t seem completely unrealistic either.
And maybe if the stars align for a season (and he develops incredible chemistry with Ivan Demidov on the power play), there’s a world in which McCagg will end up being proven right. But clearly, it demonstrates that the young person’s potential is very, very high.
In burst
– He manages it better this year, too.
– An interesting exercise.
– Phew.
– Notice to interested parties.
Related News :