Lane Hutson hit with major blow just before Game 2 vs. Buffalo
Lane Hutson is not among the three James Norris Memorial Trophy finalists, the NHL announced Thursday morning, leaving Martin St-Louis and the Montreal Canadiens stunned.
The league named Rasmus Dahlin, Cale Makar and Zach Werenski as the three names in the running. Hutson didn't make the cut.
That's the headline a lot of fans in Montreal didn't expect to wake up to.
Hutson's number this season: 78 points in 82 games. Twelve goals, 66 assists, plus-36 rating.
For a 22-year-old defenseman playing on a $950,000 cap hit, those are stunning numbers. They just weren't enough for the voters.
The Canadiens finished 48-24-10 for 106 points, sixth in the league overall. Hutson was a massive reason why.
Why the voters leaned away from Montreal's young blueliner
The Norris has always rewarded volume scoring from the back end, and Hutson delivered. So did the three finalists, on better defensive teams or on a higher-profile market stage.
Montreal allowed 256 goals against this season. That's the number that hangs around any Norris conversation involving a young, offense-first defenseman.
Voters tend to weigh that. They always have.
Hutson logged 18 power play assists this season and added three game-winning goals. The offensive output is real.
But here's the question: at what point does point production stop being enough on its own?
Werenski plays 26 minutes a night in Columbus. Dahlin anchors a Buffalo team that finished fourth overall. Makar is Makar.
Hutson posted eight games of playoff hockey before the run ended, putting up six points. The arrow is still pointing up.
Kent Hughes built this roster around young, cheap, high-end talent. The cap number on the back of Hutson's deal is the real story for Montreal's front office over the next two summers.
Because the next contract changes everything. And the case Hutson is building, Norris finalist or not, won't get any cheaper.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 6, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Josh Doan | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ryan McLeod | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Zach Benson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Bowen Byram | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Kirby Dach | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Greenway | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jansen Harkins | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Beckett Sennecke | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mark Stone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nick Suzuki | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Demidov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Chris Kreider | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan Poehling | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Juraj Slafkovsky | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Troy Terry | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Shea Theodore | - | 1 | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||