After the Montreal Canadiens’ 4-3 win over the Minnesota Wild, former Canadiens’ star defenseman P.K. Subban took to social media to talk about current Hab blueliner Lane Hutson. While the 21-year-old has been snubbed by Team USA for the Milano-Cortina twice now, the ESPN hockey analyst believes he should be in the conversation for the Norris Trophy this season.
Subban believes that Hutson impacts the game at both ends of the ice, offensively and defensively, thanks to his competitiveness and drive. He sees him as a leader who galvanizes the young Canadiens, and a player who craves the big moments, who wants to be THE guy in those big moments.
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According to Subban, not only should Hutson be in the conversation, but he has a legitimate chance of winning the Trophy, before adding that anyone who doesn’t believe he should be in the conversation is “absolutely nuts”. Unsurprisingly, he also believes that Team USA is making a mistake by not taking the youngster to the Olympics.
Subban was a Canadiens’ second-round pick (just like Hutson) at the 2007 draft and spent the first seven seasons of his 13-season NHL career in Montreal. He played 434 games with the Canadiens, putting up 278 points, including 63 goals. He’s the last Canadiens’ defenseman to have won the Norris trophy back in 2012-12, when he put up 38 points in a lockout-shortened 48-game season in which he played 42 matches.
IS LANE ON YOUR NORRIS BALLOT?! pic.twitter.com/iwbURfvoY5
— P.K. Subban (@PKSubban1) January 21, 2026
A reportedly polarizing figure in the Canadiens’ dressing room, Subban was traded to the Nashville Predators on June 29, 2016, for Shea Weber, who would go on to become the Canadiens’ 21st captain. As for Subban, he spent three years in Nashville, reaching the Stanley Cup Final once but falling to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games, before being traded to the New Jersey Devils during the 2019 offseason. He played the last three years of his career with the Devils, who then decided not to offer him a new contract, which led to his retirement from the game.
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