Hutson receives E.J. McGuire Award of Excellence

The 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft will be held July 7-8 at Bell Centre in Montreal. The first round will be July 7 (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS) and rounds 2-7 are July 8 (11 a.m. ET; NHLN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS). NHL.com is counting down to the draft with in-depth profiles on top prospects, podcasts and other features. Our full draft coverage can be found here.

Lane Hutson
, a defenseman for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program Under-18 team, received the E.J. McGuire Award of Excellence, the NHL announced Monday.
Hutson (5-foot-8, 158 pounds) is No. 25 in
NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters
for the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft. He was named the top defenseman at the 2022 IIHF World Under-18 Championship after having eight assists and a plus-12 rating in six games for the United States, which finished second behind Sweden.
"It was a pretty special moment to earn that honor," Hutson said. "Obviously I had great teammates along with me. Unfortunately, we couldn't get what we all wanted there ... a gold medal."

The E.J. McGuire Award, presented by NHL Central Scouting, is in honor of McGuire, who was director of Central Scouting from 2005 until he died of cancer April 7, 2011. It's given to the candidate who best exemplifies commitment to excellence through strength of character, competitiveness and athleticism.
NHL Central Scouting chose the E.J. McGuire Award winner in May after careful consideration of nominations from various leagues and the conclusion of the U-18 Worlds.
"Lane Hutson consistently played a dynamic, proactive game in which he excelled with his attributes," said director of NHL Central Scouting Dan Marr. "Any description of Lane has always referenced his size and one of the more appealing traits of Lane is that he knows how to use his size to his advantage to dispel any perceived limitations. It's this trait and how he approaches his training and the game, in which he competes with an unreserved passion, which has earned him the respect of teammates and opponents alike."
Hutson came prepared to the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo, where he said he interviewed with 16 NHL teams.
"I saw an endocrinologist for my bone age, and my bone age is delayed compared to my biological age," Hutson said. "So there's still room to grow for myself. For teams concerned about it, I'm still not done growing."
Hutson said his older brother, Quinn Hutson, grew a few inches between his 19th and 20th birthdays to reach 5-11, the same height as their father. Lane said there's a chance he'll reach 5-11 as well.
"We all know what the tape measure says," TSN director of scouting and NHL analyst Craig Button said. "Lane's an elite thinker and a top-notch skater. His ability to shift, left to right, right to left, pivot, turn and accelerate out of that is only going to become that much better as he gets stronger. Finally, I don't care if you're 5-8 or 6-3, you need to have leverage as a defenseman. He has leverage. He gets under players defensively, holds off players when he has the puck with leverage. So I don't worry about his size."

A left-hand shot, Hutson led the NTDP U-18 team in assists (53) and was second among defensemen in the United States Hockey League with 1.19 points per game (32 points in 27 games). He had 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 19 games against NCAA competition this season.
"He's the type of player you can't help but notice every game," Central Scouting senior manager David Gregory said. "The puck is on his stick, and he's making things happen in all areas of the ice. He competes so hard to either defend or create offense so he's one of those players you know loves to play the game and wants to be involved and make something happen. If he doesn't make something happen on a shift, in his mind, he's thinking, you know what, I failed so next shift I will."
Hutson will join his brother, Quinn, at Boston University in Hockey East next season.
"If he's 5-foot-11 right now, you're talking Cale Makar (Colorado Avalanche) going into his draft year," Button said. "He processes the game at an elite level. He doesn't get himself involved in unnecessary physical battles and he understands his game. His thinking ability, offensively and defensively, is off the charts."
NTDP photos: Rena Laverty, USA Hockey NTDP
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