Canadiens Who Are the Most Overrated for 2024-25 – The Hockey Writers – Montreal Canadiens

To be clear: Montreal Canadiens prospect Lane Hutson does NOT make this list of the most overrated Habs entering 2024-25. As a 20-year-old who’s still a virtual unknown in terms of his ceiling, he should be far from fair game from criticism at this stage. However, that hasn’t stopped many vocal proponents from building him up to unattainable heights as a rookie, when he hasn’t even made it out of his first training camp, where he’s faced lesser competition.

Related: Canadiens Who Are the Most Overrated for 2023-24

Is Hutson a top prospect? Yes. Does he have the skills to quarterback a power play in the NHL? Yes. Does that make him a shoo-in for a roster spot and a Calder Memorial Trophy favourite, when his left side on defense is especially crowded and general manager Kent Hughes has gone on record as saying they won’t keep him up in the NHL just to become a power-play specialist? No, obviously.

You’d think, anyway.

Sure, Hutson can still make the team out of training camp. However, building him up to such an extent can be unhealthy for all parties involved. When so much is riding on his hopefully proper development, the Canadiens should exercise as much patience as needed, when he doesn’t absolutely need to make the NHL right away.

It’s a necessary preface to a controversial topic that’s been explored on these pages at around this time in past years. Just because someone is overrated, they’re not necessarily bad. It just means they’re not at the level of skill at which the vast majority of people see them. It also ISN’T a reflection of their contract. That’s another topic altogether. Instead, it’s an attempt to mitigate expectations around the following players, before they almost inevitably fall short in 2024-25:

3. Patrik Laine

With all that in mind, Patrik Laine makes for a logical entry on this list as someone who once scored 44 goals as a sophomore. He’s obviously also hurt currently, having suffered a serious injury this preseason, which will reportedly keep him out of action for 2-3 months. For that, he warrants warm wishes for a speedy return. However, that shouldn’t render him immune from acknowledgement he needs to be better than he has been in the recent past.

Now just 26, the Finn is still in his theoretical prime. However, he is coming off a season in which he scored just six times (nine points) in 18 games, before suffering a separate injury and spending time in the…