The majority of experts agree that the Montreal Canadiens got their hands on a gem at the end of the second round of the last NHL draft. With the 62nd selection in the 2022 draft, the Tricolore added a 5-foot-8 American defenseman named Lane Hutson to its bank of prospects. Less than a year later, with two extra inches and 15 pounds on his frame, Hutson had a historic NCAA season, scoring 48 points in 38 games as a rookie. He even broke a 30-plus year old mark set by Brian Leetch. Almost everyone agrees that the future is bright for the young Hutson. In his first college season, he had better production than Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes combined in their first NCAA campaign. Of course, that kind of production doesn't mean he's going to be better than them in the NHL, but it's still very encouraging to see such dominance. His development is far from over, but two NHL scouts have made controversial comments about the 19-year-old. They are asking Habs fans to lower their expectations of Hutson. <q>Lane Hutson is not Cale Makar. One of the reasons Makar is special is his skating stroke and Hutson, he's not a skater of the same level. I still have big doubts since he is a small defenseman who plays small. I'm not taking anything away from his vision of the game and his talent, though.</q> This scout even adds, knowing the progression of Boston University's number 20 this season, that the team he works for had him much further down their draft list. He even mentions that some teams didn't even have him ranked. Both scouts refute all possible comparisons regarding Hutson, going from Cale Makar to Quinn Hughes, including even Samuel Girard, an excellent defenseman who is not part of the league's elite. <q>I've also seen comparisons to Samuel Girard, but he too is an exceptional skater. Hutson, his skating is average, his balance is average and he doesn't skate backwards very well.</q> In their eyes, CH fans will have to be very patient before seeing Hutson in a Habs uniform, as one of them also made it clear that he will have to spend a lot of time in the AHL, before hoping to make the jump to the National League one day. <q>He's going to have to spend a lot of time in the AHL. It's going to be very important in his development, a necessary step. That's really where we'll see if what he does in the college ranks can work in the pros.</q> To tell you the truth, these criticisms of Hutson's play are very harsh. He doesn't skate like a Makar or a Hughes, but he's nowhere near as bad as they tend to make him out to be. Moreover, if there is one aspect that can be improved quite quickly in a player, it is his skating stroke. I'd rather know that this is the weak point of the CH's hopeful, and it's very relative to one's impression, rather than his game vision or hockey IQ. The majority of Hutson's detractors mentioned that he would have a hard time acclimating to the NCAA, and they were all dead wrong. There is a good chance he will do the same in a few years when he is ready to make the jump to the NHL. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/KDubeJDQ/status/1643699606268567574'> </a></blockquote></div>