Rinkside Roundup: Lane Hutson's Calder surge

The NHL Trade Deadline is on the horizon and the playoffs are inching ever nearer for prospects playing on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Crunch time is coming and young talents are ramping up their intensity, leading to some truly dominant displays last week.

Lane Hutson continues to build arguments for Calder Trophy votes with a particularly noteworthy performance against former teammate Macklin Celebrini and the San Jose Sharks, all the while racking up the points.

The Saginaw Spirit have somehow looked more dominant than they did in their Memorial Cup-winning campaign. Zayne Parekh – who logged ten points in three games – has been the CHL’s most dynamic blueliner this season but has hit a new pace over recent weeks. 

A rising star in the 2025 NHL Draft class, Benjamin Kindel’s playmaking creativity and sustained offensive potency this season – tied for 5th in WHL scoring – has played an integral role in getting his Calgary Hitmen to a clinched playoff spot.

In Sweden, a big goalscoring right-winger did what he does best last week, too. Melvin Fernström has made a good impression in the SHL, having scored at a point-per-game pace since his signing rights were acquired by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Lane Hutson, LD, Montréal Canadiens

Season Stats: 4G, 44A, 48PTS

Last Week Stats: 1G, 3A, 4PTS

Few – if any – players in the past decade have gotten Bell Centre fans on the edge of their seats with every single puck touch. Lane Hutson did so in his debut last April and hasn’t stopped since.

The young American defenceman has played a key role in the Habs’ post-4 Nations Face Off surge, winning five consecutive contests. He has evolved the way the Montréal Canadiens play hockey every night, with his tremendous on-puck skill, lightning-quick processing, and dissecting playmaking. 

When he’s on the ice – he’s averaged 22:23 a night – Hutson demands the puck, whether the Habs have possession or not. Ever the puck-rusher, he aggressively leads the charge in transition and has been instrumental in the Canadiens’ improved rush attacking this season, driving the middle incisively both with and without the puck as a fourth attacker. Defensively, Hutson’s aggressive stick, strong anticipation, and excellent motor have consistently caused turnovers in the neutral zone and upon entry.

These elements were apparent in the Canadiens’ Thursday night game hosting the San Jose Sharks. The clash featured a head-to-head matchup for this season’s top two Calder candidates, as Hutson squared off with former teammate and close friend Macklin Celebrini. 

Perhaps we will look back at this game as a microcosm of the Calder race.

Lane Hutson and his Habs prevailed in overtime off a spectacular Cole Caufield overtime winner. 

Hutson garnered a power play assist across his 25:08 minutes, prodding constantly at the Sharks’ defence both off the rush and on the cycle. The Sharks outplayed the Canadiens despite losing but struggled mightily – as most NHL teams have – to contain Hutson from creating chaos through his shoulders, hands, and passes.

Whether or not this foreshadows anything remains to be seen. But Lane Hutson had his impact felt on the game in countless ways beyond getting on the scoresheet. And still, with 48 points, the defenceman leads all rookies in scoring.

Zayne Parekh, RD, Saginaw Spirit (Calgary Flames)

Season Stats: 30G, 66A, 96PTS

Last Week Stats: 2G, 8A, 10PTS

“If Calgary lets [Zayne Parekh] create, he could have a similar impact as Lane Hutson in his rookie season.”

Lead Scout David St. Louis wrote this in his February 7th game report, and the comparison isn’t without merit, considering their shared elite evasiveness, creativity, and aggression on both sides of the puck.

But Parekh’s skating is better. Much better.

He showed off his uncontainable mobility last week in a pair of four-point games away in Sudbury and North Bay. The Flames prospect’s exceptional lateral mobility facilitated explosive cuts inside with the puck on his stick, attacking the middle lane. He controlled the pace of Saginaw’s rushes and combined fluidly with his most elite teammates, elevating players like Michael Misa and Igor Chernyshov with his deceptive playmaking, give-and-go activations, and consistent shooting threat.

Against the North Bay Battalion, Parekh became the first-ever OHL blueliner to score 30 goals in consecutive seasons. He broke the record like only he could, too, collecting a net-front rebound off the entry and scoring from two feet below the goal line.

Benjamin Kindel, C/RW, Calgary Hitmen (2025 Draft)

Season Stats: 33G, 62A, 95 PTS

Last Week Stats: 1G, 5A, 6PTS

Surging up WHL scoring and NHL draft boards alike, Benjamin Kindel has been one of the storylines of the CHL this year. Alongside partner-in-crime Oliver Tulk, Kindel has been the source of consistent game-changing offensive creation. The pair are tied at 95 points, a full 42 ahead of the team’s third top-scorer, Connor Hvidston.

Through proactive give-and-goes, composed delays, and tremendous off-puck movement, Kindel has a wide array of NHL habits in his game already. The Kelowna Rockets got the brunt of that reality on Sunday, as Kindel contributed four assists to a 7-0 Hitmen rout. 

While Kindel lacks dynamic feet and isn’t the type to dissect entire defences with his skill, favouring a more connective approach, he uses his skill at low and medium speeds to beat individual defenders and open up passing lanes. What sets him apart beyond his ability to find clever pockets in dangerous areas like few other draft-eligibles, however, is his playmaking.

David St. Louis notes this in his January 10 report:

“Ben Kindel has one primary dimension and it's playmaking. He pushes back defenders and drops the puck to teammates in space. He freezes them and looks across the ice for an open outlet. He makes lob passes, stretch passes, and he moves well away from the puck to get it back[...] His stickhandling skills, crossover speed, and advanced playmaking could turn him into a top-nine NHL scorer down the line, and there's a lot of development runway with a player as smart as he is.”

Melvin Fernström, RW, Örebro HK (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Season Stats: 8G, 9A, 17PTS (SHL)

Last Week Stats: 3G, 0A, 3PTS

A lesser-mentioned element of the Marcus Pettersson trade, Melvin Fernström was dealt less than nine months after the Vancouver Canucks selected him 93rd overall. Fernström had been limited to eight points in 35 SHL games prior to February 1, the day of the trade.

He has since scored five goals and nine points in nine games for Örebro, even seeing top-six deployment on a few occasions.

To say that Fernström has played with a chip on his shoulder would be an understatement.

A cerebral off-puck mover who finds pockets and finishes chances at heart, the 6-foot-2, 190-pound winger showed more adaptability in his two-goal performance against MoDo. Fernström pounced on pucks. Got into shooting lanes. Tipped shots and fought for positioning near the crease. 

Fernström’s skating will likely never be a strength, but his intelligence and still-growing physicality have led to blossoming scoring. As a 19-year-old, he is unlikely to sustain his current stretch of point-per-game production in middle-six minutes in a league as competitive as the SHL, but Örebro and Penguins fans should be excited by the winger’s recent form.

Fernström is showing sparks of a much more projectable style of play than he displayed last season and with further development to his motor, physicality, and defensive habits, Pittsburgh could have a future clever third-line goalscorer on their hands.