“I had enough time to call The Show,” one fan said after watching video of Quinn Hutson scoring another beauty goal for the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors this week. The hot Oilers prospect – and older brother of Montreal Canadiens superstar Lane Hutson – is in tears and arguing he might be ready for NHL action.
Does this mean the Edmonton Oilers should take a closer look at Hutson?
Hutson now sits atop the AHL rookie rankings with his 12-goal season. Hutson is 10-8-18/+11 in the last nine games played. He is playing very well and showing Edmonton that they have a lot to look forward to.
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He’s unlikely to maintain his pace, but surprisingly, he’s on pace for 144 points and a +96 plus-minus.
For the Oilers, it might be tempting to take a look at Hutson. At the same time, the last thing Edmonton wants to do is rush a solid prospect and ruin their momentum. Ideally, letting him continue to dominate the AHL is a solid strategy. He will have all the confidence in the world when he finally makes his regular season debut. This is called over-maturation, and it’s a plan used by many NHL clubs.
Quinn Hutson, Edmonton Oilers prospect © Perry Nelson Imagn Images
On the other hand, Edmonton needs to score more. Without Jack Roslovic and Kasperi Kapanen, they are missing wings and shuffling the pieces trying to find the right mix. The Oilers lost 1-0 to the Minnesota Wild in a game where obviously the Oilers only needed a goal and couldn’t get it. They are lacking offense this season, sitting in the middle of the NHL standings in goals scored.
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Edmonton could use the depth score.
There’s probably no room to move Hutson up without bringing someone else down or out. Hutson’s game is best utilized in a top-six role, which means demoting someone like Matt Savoie. Some fans would say that’s fine, given that Savoie is struggling offensively, but the need to get him going might be as imperative as anything else.
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