The next generation of NHL defencemen are uniquely skilled with the puck and have come of age during an era when dynamic skating and puck movement rule the day. The prototype of a booming, physical defender who wires slap shots from the point is an archaic template, and while the league has always embraced brisk acceleration and blistering pace on the back end, Montreal Canadiens rookie Lane Hutson and Los Angeles Kings emerging star Brandt Clarke may stand alone as the next generation of blueliners who boast special improvisational qualities.

Quinn Hughes, Adam Fox and Cale Makar have graduated firmly into their primes and are in a different age cohort from Hutson and Clarke, all of whom have taken the league by storm while firmly in their mid-20s. Hutson cited Hughes, Fox and Makar as players he looked up to — not as a kid, as he corrected himself during our brief conversation on November 9 — but as models to follow as he developed into a pro.

“For me, those were my guys coming up the last few years. Watching them, I want to be something like them, and I hope we get more guys like them,” Hutson said on November 9, prior to Hockey Night in Canada, where the Canadiens squared off against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

For most players, getting compared to the reigning Norris Trophy winner would seem like hyperbole or an ambitious oversight, but it’s an opinion shared, unprompted, by analysts, fellow players and coaches across the league.

“Dynamic skater and agility,” Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said of Hutson on November 9 after a morning skate. “Head’s up all the time, if you watch him. He really sees the ice well. He’s got great feet and agility. Probably compare him to (Quinn) Hughes in Vancouver at some point. He’s a dangerous player.”

Hutson’s skating ability, puck skills, change of pace and playmaking have made him one of the NHL’s must-watch players on a Canadiens team that is plummeting toward another disappointing season -and should be spending their resources on the 2025 NHL Draft. Here’s a clip from ESPN’s Rachel Doerrie where Hutson’s skill set is on full display against the Seattle Kraken on October 29:

“I think trying to take what’s given to me and playing into what the game has honestly given me is something I’ve done at all levels I’ve played at. Just play to my game and play to my strengths, but also knowing what the game is calling for,” Hutson said.

There’s been a tendency to dismiss Hutson’s ability to control the offensive zone as empty theatrics, as the Canadiens have failed to generate meaningful offence for large stretches of the season. This clip from a December 12 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins drew some polarizing reactions, especially in Toronto: If Hutson is so good, why are the Canadiens heading to the lottery again? It’s clear the Canadiens have an emerging star on their hands, but the club simply lacks the offensive talent to actualize Hutson’s playmaking ability — as a 20-year-old rookie, Hutson ranks third on the Canadiens in points while logging 22:39 of ice time per game. There are going to be growing pains, especially on a team that is hoping to secure Matthew Schaefer, James Hagens, Porter Martone or Michael Misa in next summer’s draft.

Hutson is sporting a minus-6 goal differential at 5-on-5 with a 45.22 percent share of the expected goals at 5-on-5, but he’s also carrying David Savard. When he’s without Savard, Hutson sports a plus-2 goal differential and a 48.47 percent share of the expected goals. Hutson is carrying a struggling veteran while operating as Montreal’s No. 1 defender, just two years removed from the second round of the 2022 NHL Draft. He’s putting up numbers comparable to some of the most storied figures in the Canadiens’ decorated history at the same age — he may not be Patrick Roy winning the Conn Smythe on the 1986 Canadiens, but he’s getting zero support from his teammates.

It’s clear that Hutson’s teammates already think the world of him, and he may be a singular talent.

“I mean, you watch him play, he basically does anything he wants with the puck on his stick,” Canadiens defenceman Kaiden Guhle said of Hutson on November 9. “It’s fun to watch. He’s got a crazy amount of skill. For him to be doing this as a 20-year-old in the league is impressive. He can do basically anything he wants with the puck on his stick, so he’s got the skill, he’s got the tools for all of it.

“I think he’s one-of-one. He’s his own player. I don’t think there’s going to be anyone who comes up that will be the exact same player as him. I think he’s his own player. I do think coming up now, there’s a lot more skill for young players coming up now. Even from when I would come up, you see the number of coaches now that are trying to come up and have their own kind of brand and their own skills, and some players have a lot more skill now, but he’s his own player for sure.”

Clarke shares these improvisational qualities. It wasn’t long ago that Clarke, Seattle Kraken forward Shane Wright and New York Rangers prospect Brennan Othmann finished one of the most dominant minor hockey seasons in Ontario history, leading the Don Mills Flyers to the OHL Cup in 2019. At the minor hockey and major junior levels, Clarke operated with unmatched confidence and took unique routes to the puck, surveying the ice as if time suspended itself when he had the puck on his stick.

“Clarkey obviously came in, super confident. Very offensive player, sees the ice really well. There’s a lot of things to like about him and he’s just getting started,” Kings forward Quinton Byfield said of his teammate after a morning skate on October 16.

There were concerns that Clarke’s unique qualities wouldn’t translate to the NHL, but he’s found his footing and he’s constantly making highlight reel plays. Just take one look at this incredible pass from Clarke to Anze Kopitar against the Vegas Golden Knights on October 30.

“I think it’s come along well,” Clarke said of his improvisational ability on October 16. “It helps when you have a lot of these guys in my corner, they just tell me to do my thing up there, they have a lot of faith in me. They just want me to help out offensively, move pucks up quick, and get up in the rush and do what I do up there. It’s really encouraging that so many coaches, players, everyone, wants me to play my game and that helps me out a bunch for sure.”

Clarke’s situation is certainly different than Hutson’s, but there are commonalities: although Clarke is playing just under 18 minutes per game, the fourth-most minutes among Kings’ defencemen, he leads all Los Angeles defenders in points, recording three goals and 17 points in 31 games as a 21-year-old. And his underlying numbers have been outright terrific, too.

When Los Angeles is on the ice at 5-on-5, Clarke sports a plus-nine goal differential, while the Kings boast a 55.47 percent share of the expected goals — and the Kings have controlled over 59 percent of the expected goals in each of his previous two seasons. He’s been primarily paired with Joel Edmundson, the 25th-most used pairing in the NHL, with a plus-six goal differential and a 55 percent share of the expected goals at 5-on-5.

What may be more important than the actual and underlying numbers: Clarke has received Drew Doughty’s blessing to become the next franchise pillar.

“He even came to me and told me, you got to be the next man up or have that next man up mentality,” Clarke said about the advice Doughty gave him. “I told him I appreciated that. I dedicate so much to him, he’s helped me out since the moment I got in this organization. He was the first person to text me when I got drafted.”

Clarke is a significantly better defender than his popular perception suggests, but he’s also trying audacious plays for a Kings team that is trying to bridge a few generations with Anze Kopitar still playing at a high-end level, competing for a Stanley Cup.

“He’s obviously a really talented guy,” Wright said of Clarke on October 31 after the Kraken’s morning skate. “He’s a really good friend of mine as well. He’s stepped in a really big role there, they’ve had Doughty go down so he’s kind of jumped into that role. He’s having a great year, it’s great to see the success he’s had.”

Are Clarke and Hutson’s edge work, improvisational skills, skating ability and playmaking indicative of where the under-25 cohort of NHL defencemen — along with the next wave of ascending prospects in minor hockey and junior circuits — the prototype for the future? Or are they singular talents in their own right? In any event, the NHL is in good hands with Clarke and Hutson’s creativity, skating and improvisation as central reasons why they’re taking on huge roles for their teams before they’ve turned 22.