CALGARY — Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes, in deciding to leave his team alone at the trade deadline Friday, wanted to see how his players would perform in the pressurized environment of a playoff chase.
The Canadiens have little margin for error. A team that has been almost entirely process and development-driven for three years would now be largely results-driven. However, the underlying purpose of this experiment would be to provide new information to management and see how this new environment impacts the performance of Montreal’s future core players.
On Saturday, the Canadiens lost 1-0 to the Calgary Flames, a team in a similar spot, with a small margin for error and a similar trade deadline approach. The Flames didn’t do anything at the deadline after making their big trade much earlier, and they wanted to see how their players would perform under the pressure of a race.
In that sense, Flames goalie Dustin Wolf once again provided a reassuring performance. The Canadiens outshot the Flames 10-5 in the third period of a 1-0 game, and Wolf shut the door.
Wolf is a legitimate rookie of the year candidate, and he looked every bit the part.
But the Canadiens have a legitimate rookie of the year candidate of their own, and his ability to navigate this environment is just as special.
After the Canadiens’ game Thursday in Edmonton, a 3-2 overtime loss that could have easily gone either way, just like this game in Calgary, Lane Hutson was visibly upset with his performance. There were a few plays he would have liked to have back, and it showed in his demeanor.
Hutson, 21, generally can self-evaluate accurately, even if he can occasionally be hard on himself. But we’re not talking about Juraj Slafkovský levels of self-immolation.
Still, Hutson was upset.
“Just a couple of plays to clean up, nothing too crazy. But when it gets down to these games, the little things add up, and I want to be better for my teammates and help them out to get some wins,” Hutson said Thursday night. “Obviously, if we win this game, it’s easy to flush it and move on to the next one. But we didn’t win, so it’s tough.”
Lane Hutson, a rookie of the year candidate, is showing he can handle the playoff chase. (Eric Bolte / Imagn Images)
Before the game against Calgary, Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis was asked about the traits necessary for a young player to perform in the pressurized universe of a playoff race, and take note of the first thing he mentioned.
“I think one is just to be poised and not get stressed out by the outcome you hope you’re going to get,” he said. “To me, it’s always focusing on what’s next on the ice.”
Poise.
This was poise.
With the Canadiens entering the third period on a power play down a goal, Hutson went back behind his net to collect the puck and began skating up ice. As he arrived at his blue line, an area where he would normally send the puck back to Nick Suzuki for the zone entry, Hutson saw something.
He didn’t send it back to Suzuki. Instead, he skated with it a bit longer, sent a pass up to Slafkovský along the wall, took a return pass, entered the offensive zone and feathered a saucer pass to Cole Caufield driving the back post. The puck landed on Caufield’s stick perfectly, and Caufield just missed putting it under the crossbar, sending the puck into the netting instead.
“It’s something we talk about,” Caufield said. “That’s kind of Lane’s decision on what he reads. That was a great read, and we all kind of beat our guy to the net. I just happened to miss that one. Obviously sucks. But we had our looks for sure.”
That’s kind of Hutson’s decision on what he reads.
Every point for the Canadiens from here on in is vital, as Hutson mentioned after he was upset with his performance in Edmonton. Under that pressure, to make the read he made and to execute the play he executed, everything becomes heightened. Nine times out of 10, Caufield buries that chance, and the game is tied because Hutson played the game in front of him and was not stressed by the outcome he hoped to get.
“We wanted to get one last chance, there was like 40 seconds left (on the power play), I kind of saw a little space, I saw Slaf was available and he could make that next play to me,” Hutson said. “It was just strictly what I saw. It’s hard to explain it. But I see space, I take it, and Slaf makes a good play to me. For Cole, I was just trying to lay it there for him because it would have been hard if I passed it like a bullet.”
Hutson played more than half the third period as the Canadiens continually pressured a passive Flames team sitting on a one-goal lead. And he continued making good decisions through it all, making plays and setting up teammates.
He even uncorked a one-timer late in the second period.
Hutson immediately smiled when that one-timer was brought up to him after the game. He wasn’t taking this one too hard, despite the loss, despite the environment. He played an incredible game, and he knew it.
“Yeah, a little bit,” he admitted. “Still frustrating. I definitely had my chances where maybe I could have scored or helped generate a better look. But it’s a game of chances, and sometimes the chances don’t go in.”
HUTSON 😩👌 pic.twitter.com/tzLvwnKlct
— TVA Sports (@TVASports) March 9, 2025
This has become normal for the Canadiens. But it’s not normal.
Just as it’s not normal for a rookie goaltender like Wolf to stand on his head in crunch time as the Flames sat back amid a playoff chase, it’s not normal for a rookie defenseman to play more than half that third period and be as poised and dynamic and dangerous as Hutson was in the midst of a playoff chase Saturday.
“I think he’s done that his whole life,” St. Louis said. “Now he’s starting to do that at this level, and he’s showing that he can.”
Again, Hutson has not been playing in the NHL his whole life. Doing that in pee-wee and the NHL are two decidedly different things.
“I know it’s different,” St. Louis said. “It’s nothing new for him. I think he doesn’t put the NHL on a pedestal. He’s a great kid, he’s a very humble kid, but he really believes in what he does, no matter what level it’s at.”
This is the kind of information the Canadiens need from now until the end of the regular season to know what they have moving forward, whether they make the playoffs or not.
Hutson continued to deliver information, as he has all season. But he is doing it playing at a new level and under the intense pressure of a playoff chase, and he continues believing in what he does.
And that information is precious to the Canadiens.
(Top photo: Sergei Belski / Imagn Images)
