[Discussion] What are realistic expectations for Hutton?

[Kaner]

The title says it all.

 

Ben Hutton quietly came into training camp committed to making the team. And that's exactly what he did. He quickly emerged as one of the teams most solid defensemen, as well as a fan-favourite, and went from playing on the 3rd pairing, to the 1st. When Hutton was relied upon to put up some points, he did, and he finished first on the team in points by defensemen with 28. He also finished third in points by rookie defensemen in the regular season, behind both Gostisbehere and Parayko. At the end of the season, Hutton was even invited to the World Championship Tournament in Russia, where he won a gold medal.

 

Now that JB has acquired Gudbranson, a solid stay-at-home top 4 defensemen, Hutton should be able to dial in offensively, and take a large stride next season.

 

The fact that Hutton blew all of our expectations out of the water, and nearlycame out of no where, AND was able to accomplish all of this in just his first season is something special.

 

So, my question is, what can we expect from Hutton moving forward? 

[Mattrek]

Realistically probably a 35-40 pt offensive top 4 defenceman. Optimistically a 50-60 pt offensive top 2 defenceman. Either or we stole a gem at 147th.

[SaintPatrick33]

At least 30-40 points, but what I want to see Willie do is use him on the PP as the guy who can skate it in. He has speed and stickhandling to do so, and also gets off a quick release wrister. 

 

He really needs to work on his defensive positioning, got torched last year, but if he is paired with Gudbranson, that should help him out quite a bit. Hopefully his strength will improve this offseason as well. 

 

The sky is the limit for him. 

[BI3KSA-]

I feel like his ceiling is very difficult to predict because no one thought he'd be as good as he is now, which makes all the more hard to tell where he will end up. He really came out of nowhere, and I think WD actually did a great job of bringing him along slowly and not throwing him to the wolves right away. Now coming into next season hes being set up very well too succeed with the perfect likely partner in Gudbranson, who as a stay at home, tough, physical and gritty behemoth of a defensemen, is likely the perfect fit for Hutton, allowing him to take more risks offensively and not worry about being physically bullied and the like. 

Sky is the limit, and management and the coaching staff have done very well in setting him up to succeed this upcoming season. 

[chon derry]

internal competition is a little better this year hopefully he elevates that much more, with the addition of 2 giants , pinching a little more ,heck even hammer after coming back was pinching  and chipping in on the scoreboard, much rather see hutton get comfortable in that role.

[ItsMillerTime]

30-50 points. I think he will get around 10-15 goals this year because he will shoot more hopefully 

[-Vintage Canuck-]

I have a feeling this upcoming season will be a big year for Ben Hutton. As he surprised many people last season, he will surprise many people and get over 40 points.

[NameFaker]

I'm with the above posters in that he can likely bring 30-50 points, chipping in anywhere between 5-15 goals a season.

 

I checked out Duncan Keith's stats recently and noticed that he's pretty much the same size as Hutton and didn't break out offensively until he was around 23-24, so I expect some major strides from Hutton this season and next. I'm not saying he's the next Keith, but I also think he has the potential to be a dangerous weapon from the back-end, which contextualizes Benning's decision to trade for Gudbranson.

 

I think I heard Benning mention that he wants to pair Gud and Hut next season, which suggests he believes that Hutton has at least top-4 potential and may even grow beyond that. However, I suspect he'll never elevate his play beyond the level of Edler, a sort of perennial contender for all-star status, but never quite good enough to break that barrier consistently. 

 

He'll be an extremely valuable player for us over the next 2 to 3 years without a doubt though.

 

I'm excited to watch his development.

[Outsiders]

Well since our forwards can't put the puck in the net I see Hutton getting no more than 32-35 points. 

[LaBamba]

I don't believe in expectations. He is a young defensemen learning the game. 

[Ghostsof1915]

Maybe the problem here is we MAKE expectations. As long as Hutton is his sunny, positive self. Plays hard, and improves year by year I'm happy. Athletes can have injuries, accidents, illnesses that are beyond anyone's control. I know we want a cup. I'm not predicting ANYTHING until we see what the team looks like, who is playing where, ect. It's just too early. Sort of like people who are projecting 1st round busts, when guys haven't even been drafted yet. 

[McIlhargey the Lesser]

I'm excited to see what he can do when he has someone like Gudbranson to stay back so that he is more able to play offensively and take risks. Could be a 40-50 point guy I think.

[-AJ-]

55 minutes ago, Mattrek said:

Realistically probably a 35-40 pt offensive top 4 defenceman. Optimistically a 50-60 pt offensive top 2 defenceman. Either or we stole a gem at 147th.

This. I'm expecting a 3/4 d-man at best who can provide 7-12 goals per season in his prime and maybe 30-45 points or so. Maybe a #2 guy in his very best years.

[Sedintwinpowersactivate]

He has talent on the ice and he is a character in the room.  His positive attitude is infectious.  The Canucks hit a home run with Hutton.

 

5 goals and 30 assists is what I'm expecting this year.

[Derp...]

7 goals 35 points.

 

Hutton took 150 shots last year with about 100 hitting the net. If he continues to play first unit PP he could get up to 200 shot attempts with 2/3 hitting the net, and most likely will see his shooting percentage bump up to 5-7%

 

150 shots with a 5% scoring average = 7.5 goals

 

If he only get's second unit then he will probably drop a goal or 2 and 3-5 assists

[kilgore]

I'm just still stoked we even lucked out and landed him. I like how he is unafraid to push the puck up the ice for a rookie. Unafraid of the coach that is. Because another rookie D would may be more leery about taking those chances so early on for fear of getting burned too often.

 

 

[Bur14Kes17]

1 hour ago, SwedeHockey said:

The title says it all.

 

Ben Hutton quietly came into training camp committed to making the team. And that's exactly what he did. He quickly emerged as one of the teams most solid defensemen, as well as a fan-favourite, and went from playing on the 3rd pairing, to the 1st. When Hutton was relied upon to put up some points, he did, and he finished first on the team in points by defensemen with 28. He also finished third in points by rookie defensemen in the regular season, behind both Gostisbehere and Parayko. At the end of the season, Hutton was even invited to the World Championship Tournament in Russia, where he won a gold medal.

 

Now that JB has acquired Gudbranson, a solid stay-at-home top 4 defensemen, Hutton should be able to dial in offensively, and take a large stride next season.

 

The fact that Hutton blew all of our expectations out of the water, and nearlycame out of no where, AND was able to accomplish all of this in just his first season is something special.

 

So, my question is, what can we expect from Hutton moving forward? 

Sky is the limit for Ben Hutton. Watching him on the power play last year, he can already walk the blue line better then Edler can. Not as comfortably, but he's more gifted.  The funny thing is you can tell when you watch him doing it that he's slightly awkward almost like he's surprising himself as he goes as to what he can actually do. Just wait till this kid gets comfortable with his ability because he's never expected this out of himself. I see him as a #2 top pairing guy who's capable of having three 50 pt seasons and annually being above 35 points 

[Provost]

2nd pairing D man who can eventually hit 30-50 points.

 

Keep in mind he is a kid and progress isn't always linear, he could easily have a down year next year and there would be no reason to panic.

[SaintPatrick33]

Let us also hope that he stops singing to barbie girl.....

[Jägermeister]

Honestly, even if he gets absolutely no better over the course of his career, he will still be a solid player.

Of course I'm sure he will improve, and I'm excited to see how much he does.