Mike Matheson (560 NHL games) takes inspiration from Lane Hutson (15 games)

Dose
Crédit: Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

Although the Canadiens are off to a rocky start, there are a few bright spots. Cole Caufield is scoring a ton of goals, and Jake Evans and Brendan Gallagher are playing some great hockey.

And rightly so: these are good things happening with the club.

That said, on the blue line, Lane Hutson is another big bright spot. His seven points in 13 games are a fine production, but above all, he’s really dynamic on the ice.

He’s not a perfect player, but he adds a much-needed element of mobility to the Habs’ blue line.

And clearly, the youngster’s style is inspiring some of his teammates. In conversation with Anthony Martineau(TVA Sports), Mike Matheson confessed that he draws inspiration from his young teammate.

And that’s despite the fact that Matheson (560 games) has quite a bit more experience than Hutson (15 games) in the Bettman circuit.

Matheson, who says he’s already been advised to always try to get elements out of his teammates’ play, is trying to incorporate the young defender’s famous shoulder dekes into his game. It’s an element that helps Hutson create space on the ice and often makes his opponents look bad, so Matheson wants to try and have similar success.

You could almost say that #48 is an influencer at this point. He didn’t invent it, of course, but he’s one of the most frequent users of these dekes.

In a context where many fans would like to see Hutson tame Matheson from the first powerplay wave, it’s nice to see that the veteran doesn’t see the youngster as a threat, but as a guy he can learn from. And that’s even if he might think he has no time to waste on that, given that he’s a veteran and has already had his share of success with his own style of play.

The question now is whether more and more NHL players will adopt the famous shoulder deke. It worked for Hutson, and with Matheson successfully integrating it into his toolbox, maybe some mobile defensemen (or even some forwards) will figure it can help them, too,

To be continued.

Overtime

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– The kind of habs season where we talk about the coach’s drinking… in November.

– It’s been tough for Elias Pettersson since he signed his new contract.

– Nice sequence for the Habs prospect.

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