Legendary Hockey Reporter Stan Fischler writes a weekly scrapbook for NHL.com. Fischler, known as "The Hockey Maven," shares his humor and insight with readers each Wednesday. This week focuses on a pair of Montreal Canadiens defensemen seven decades apart. Their common theme: turning the Canadiens into a winning team.
"Too small and too light."
That was the capsule scouting report on 18-year-old defenseman Lane Hutson's future before he reached the NHL.
When Hutson was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round (No. 62) of the 2022 NHL Draft, he was a lighter-than-NHL-average 5-foot-9, 162 pounds, but there was a compelling postscript, a surprise award.
The native of Holland, Michigan, won the E.J. McGuire Award of Excellence presented annually to the NHL Draft prospect who best exemplifies commitment to excellence through strength of character, competitiveness and athleticism.
Those three words -- character, competitiveness, athleticism -- would define Hutson's future.
Three years later, Hutson won the 2025 Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL rookie of the year when members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association gave him more votes than finalists Dustin Wolf of the Calgary Flames and Macklin Celebrini of the San Jose Sharks. He then signed an eight-year, $70.8 million contract with the Canadiens on Monday. It has an average annual value of $8.85 million and begins next season.
"I had a conversation with Lane over the weekend and he had talked about his view on things," Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes said. "It struck me he wanted to make sure we understood how much he wanted to be here and how hard he was going to work. I kind of cut him off and said, 'Lane, there wouldn't be an eight-year deal if we didn't believe in who you were at your core.' The kind of person he is, how committed he is to being his best version of himself, but also being the best version of a teammate."
The Calder voting wasn't close. Hutson got 1,832 voting points (165 for first place).
"Lane has ice in his veins," said Hockey Hall of Famer Larry Robinson, a two-time Norris Trophy winner voted as the League's best defenseman in 1977 and 1980 who sipped Stanley Cup champagne six times.
When Hutson won the Calder, it marked the first time a Canadiens player was named rookie of the year in the expansion era (since 1967-68) after goalie Ken Dryden (1971-72). While reviewing Hutson's admirable defense work -- and Canadiens history -- Hall of Famer Doug Harvey (5-11, 187) inevitably comes to mind. The Montreal native anchored the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge defense during five consecutive (1956-60) championship years. He won the Norris Trophy eight times in nine seasons, missing only in 1959 (teammate Tom Johnson).
"Doug had many attributes," Canadiens general manager Frank Selke wrote in his autobiography "Behind the Cheering."
"He had a fine shot and a lot of skills. You had to respect his star qualities and the fact that hockey also was a bowl of cherries to Doug."
The same may be said about Hutson considering his arithmetic last season. His 60 assists tied Larry Murphy's rookie record accomplished in 1980-81. His 66 points were the most by a first-year defenseman since Brian Leetch of the New York Rangers had 71 in 1988-89.
"The numbers never crossed my mind," Hutson said.
But there was no doubt that he helped catapult the youngest team to reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Eastern Conference First Round, a five-game loss to the Washington Capitals.
"I think every time you get to throw on this jersey, it's special, whether it's practice, games, preseason, playoffs," Hutson said. "It always means so much to me, and it's pretty special I get to do it for a while now. I have belief that we aren't far off from being a team that can be a Stanley Cup championship team, and not just once. Hopefully we continue to do it, but the belief I have in this group, the staff, coaches, everything we have in place, I think we're heading in a great direction. I just really trust what we're doing here."
By contrast, Harvey's ascent coincided with the Canadiens' Stanley Cup victory in 1955-56, the first of five consecutive titles.
"Doug must be front and center in any summary of those teams," wrote Dick Irvin in "The Habs: An Oral History of the Montreal Canadiens, 1940-1980."
Wrote Red Fisher in the Montreal Gazette: "During a stopover in Detroit, Habs coach Toe Blake arranged a 'togetherness' bus tour to the Ford Motor Company. When Harvey learned that it would include (Detroit) Red Wing players, he ordered the driver to stop the bus.
"He told Blake: 'Those guys were trying to cut my head open on Sunday. If you think that on Monday I'm visiting Ford with them you're out of your mind.' And he got off the bus."
Traded to the New York Rangers for defenseman Lou Fontinato on June 13, 1961, Harvey became a rare player-coach.
"We hadn't made the playoffs for four years," Rangers defenseman Harry Howell said, "and along comes Doug, playing and coaching. He not only got us into the playoffs, but Doug wound up winning another Norris Trophy. I dined with Harvey during that season and asked him to reveal the secret to his success. He shot back: 'Don't think -- just do!'"
Defenseman Al "Junior" Langlois was traded to the Rangers by the Canadiens for defenseman John Hanna the same day.
"When it came to those five straight Montreal Cup years, there's no doubt Doug was the key guy," Langlois said. "In those games, it seemed that nothing happened until Doug made it happen."
Perhaps such encomiums someday may be echoed about Lane Hutson. For now, his accomplishments in a short time speak for themselves. This much is certain: He hasn't been too small, nor too light.
"We've kind of built a culture here where guys are not trying to break the bank," Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. "I think all Lane wants to do is win, and I think he's definitely set us up for that possibility moving on in the future."
NHL.com columnist Nick Cotsonika contributed to this report
