Corey Pronman on Lane Hutson: “People don’t know if you can win with him.”

Dose
Crédit:

If you are a bit into social media, you have seen Corey Pronman being very… resistant when talking about Lane Hutson’s future. Let’s put it this way for now.

Pronman, whose job is to evaluate young players, had said that one day, he might see Hutson in a top-4. He had mentioned Hutson as the 39th best player under 23 and questioned the defender’s work ethic.

And that did not go over well in Montreal.

Since then, there have been games that supported his views at times (the game against Toronto and yesterday’s match in Detroit) regarding the quality of his defensive play… but he still got it wrong in volume.

And instead of adjusting his stance, he doubled down.

In a recent article published on The Athletic’s website, Pronman mentioned that he liked his offensive game, but once again he was unsure about what his defensive game would yield.

Here’s what he wrote.

I think his size will be an issue for playing defensively, especially in the playoffs.

When I spoke about this to teams at the All-American Showcase and the OHL Top Prospect Showcase recently, this was a recurring theme: he’s good, but people aren’t sure if you can win with him. – Corey Pronman

Pronman adds that it’s not just him that the debate exists (Adam Fox and Quinn Hughes as well), but that yes, there are people questioning whether a defender like Hutson can help win.

He also added that only two defenders of that size have ever made it to the Stanley Cup final.

Because Lane Hutson doesn’t get knocked around too much (on the contrary) despite his size, because he is already a top defenseman, and because guys like Hughes and Fox perform well in the playoffs, one wonders where Wheeler’s comments are coming from this time.

But in my opinion, that doesn’t keep Hutson awake at night… even knowing that playoff hockey is tougher.

in brief

– Oh.

– To be continued.

– A name to remember.

– Well done.

– It’s been like this for a long time on social media. And not everyone is obliged to find it nice.