Lane Hutson not at summer camp because he didn’t go to the World Championships

Dose
Crédit: Lane Hutson skates against Sam Carrick during a Montreal Canadiens game.

One of the biggest stories in recent days in the hockey world, and especially for Canadiens fans, is the fact that Lane Hutson has not been invited to the U.S. team’s summer camp. Indeed, it was a big surprise not to see the name of the most recent Calder Trophy winner on the U.S. camp roster for the Olympics, especially considering that 16 defensemen will be there, but not Hutson.

Of course, we know that the U.S. is loaded with defensive talent, but the fact remains that the Habs’ defenseman clearly deserved his place, at least at camp ahead of the likes of Alex Vlasic and Brady Skjei, for example. This lack of understanding makes a little more sense, however, with Marco D’Amico’s recent article on RG Media, in which D’Amico explains that one of his sources told him that Hutson wasn’t invited in large part because he refused to represent the U.S. at the last World Championship.

[content-ads] So once again we understand the importance of going to represent your country whenever an opportunity arises.

Hutson had been invited, but refused to join the U.S. team after the playoffs with the Habs. What Marco D’Amico’s source explains is that Hutson’s refusal is the first part of the reason why the Habs defenseman wasn’t invited to the U.S. summer camp.

“I know that for both Canada and the U.S., this weighs very heavily in decision-making given that both countries have very deep pools filled with talented players.”

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RG Media’s source

This situation is obviously reminiscent of Habs captain Nick Suzuki’s refusal to join Team Canada for the 2024 World Championship, which had a lot to do with the fact that he wasn’t selected for the Four Nations Confrontation.

[content-ads] This same source explained that if Hutson really wanted to be invited to this camp, he should have joined the U.S. team at the World Championship. There is a growing understanding that this is a primary criterion in the decision-making process, as evidenced by the presence at the camp of Alex Vlasic, Brady Skjei and Jackson Lacombe, three defensemen who won gold at the 2025 World Championship with the USA.

It’s also worth noting that the second reason Hutson wasn’t invited is his profile as a small, attacking defenseman, a profile already found on the U.S. side with Quinn Hughes and Adam Fox.

In short, this camp is not a training camp for the U.S. team, and there will be no cuts at this camp, so between now and the Olympics, if Hutson performs as well as he’s capable of, he may very well be selected if some key defensemen get injured. Let’s just say that Hutson will have plenty of motivation to perform. #LastYearOfContract #OlympicGames [spacer title=’En Rafale’] – The youngster is confident:

– Read on.

– Phew.