Lane Hutson played 28:55 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final on Monday night. He scored. He blocked shots. He did everything that could be asked of a franchise defenceman in a pivotal home game. However, he also took a hit to the knee from Taylor Hall in overtime in Game 2, absorbed an elbow to the head from William Carrier in overtime of Game 3 that the officials never called, and he has now been targeted more than any other Montreal skater in this series.
He keeps showing up. But as the Canadiens head into a must-win Game 4 on Wednesday down 2-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes, Martin St. Louis must decide whether Hutson can handle nearly 29 minutes a night, and more, should he have to.
Hutson’s Workload Keeps Growing
In their first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Hutson averaged 27:23 of ice time, and that number has only gone up in the conference final. As The Hockey Writers noted, the 2026 Playoffs have proven that Hutson can do it all when the stakes are highest, but logging 27 minutes a night while being compared favourably to Quinn Hughes is not a reason to keep pushing that ceiling higher.
Through this series, Hutson has taken more hits than any Canadiens skater, and it’s a deliberate strategy by the Hurricanes, who are averaging 43.73 hits per 60 minutes in the conference final, to wear down Montreal’s most important defenceman. The hits are not random, and the more minutes he plays, the more he is exposed to that strategy.
How St. Louis Should Better Utilize His Blue Line
The good news for St. Louis is that he has options, who have been quietly excellent throughout this run.
Mike Matheson is the most natural candidate to absorb more ice time. He led the Canadiens in regular-season ice time at 24:10 per game and has the experience and compete level to handle difficult minutes in a physical series. He scored in Game 3 and has shown he can move the puck reliably enough to take some power-play burden off Hutson in spot situations.
Kaiden Guhle has been the understated standout of the Canadiens’ playoff run. In 16 games, Guhle has put up eight points, all at 5-on-5, while contributing physically with hits and blocked shots, ranking among the top NHL defencemen by advanced metrics this postseason. He does not chase headlines, and he does not need to. If St. Louis gives Guhle more defensive-zone starts and difficult matchup minutes, it would directly reduce the load Hutson has to carry at the other end of the ice.
Noah Dobson is the third piece of this equation. St. Louis has paired Hutson and Dobson as his two primary puck-movers, a combination that has produced offence but has also given them the toughest deployment in the lineup. A slight redistribution with Dobson taking more of the difficult zone-start situations could allow Hutson to be used more selectively, particularly in offensive-zone pushes when his skating and decision-making are sharpest.
Jayden Struble rounds out the depth picture. His stay-at-home style has been described as the ideal complement to Hutson’s game, and his defensive presence alongside Hutson gives the young defenceman the freedom to jump into the play without worrying about coverage behind him. More minutes from Struble in lower-leverage situations is a simple but effective adjustment St. Louis could make.
Canadiens Risk Running Hutson Into the Ground
The instinct to keep Hutson on the ice is understandable. He is the best option, and Montreal is chasing the series. But that logic only holds until it doesn’t. The Hockey Writers has tracked Hutson’s development since his college days, noting that his greatest advantage is the ability to process the play while reacting to it simultaneously, keeping him a step ahead of everyone else.
That is a mental and physical edge, and a player who has absorbed repeated hits, is managing what may be residual effects from a head blow, and is logging nearly 29 minutes a night in a physical conference final cannot operate his cognitive engine at full capacity.
Some noted that Hutson did not look the same after Carrier’s hit in overtime on Monday, and that the neutral-zone turnover that led directly to Andrei Svechnikov’s overtime winner came in the immediate aftermath. That connection cannot be proven. But it cannot be dismissed either.
What St. Louis Owes Hutson
There is a version where loading Hutson with minutes is a sign of trust and belief in the team’s best player. There is another version where the coaching staff fails to protect an asset that the entire team depends on.
Montreal cannot win this series without Hutson. His fingerprints are on every Canadiens win this postseason, and when he controls the point on the power play, the entire structure of Montreal’s offensive zone coverage shifts. That is why using him for nearly 29 minutes a night against a team that has made wearing him down its primary defensive strategy is a gamble that gets riskier with every game.
The Canadiens are down 2-1 heading into Game 4 at the Bell Centre. St. Louis has shown all season that he trusts his depth. Now, it’s time to prove it. Matheson, Guhle, Dobson, and Struble are capable of carrying more. The smartest thing would be for Hutson to arrive at the rink knowing he has 23 minutes to give instead of 29, and that his teammates will cover the difference.
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