Canadiens prospects Filip Mešár and Lane Hutson are on different ...

BROSSARD, Que. — The season following your draft year is a mental challenge for many NHL prospects. There are expectations that come with being drafted by an NHL team, especially if you were picked in the early rounds. Sometimes, as was the case for 2022 Canadiens early draft picks Filip Mešár and Lane Hutson, you are changing teams and changing levels immediately following that draft, only adding to the challenge.

None of this is easy, and this is why everyone says the NHL Draft is only the start of the journey. As thrilling as it is, there is a lot of work left to be done, and often it is more difficult than anything these young men have ever experienced.

Mešár and Hutson provide a perfect example of how the range of possibilities in that next year is a wide one, with struggles adapting to a new country and a new style of play on the one hand, and unmitigated success on the other, perfectly adapting to a higher level of play and not skipping a beat on both the domestic and international stage.

It is not linear for everyone, far from it, and just because one struggled and the other succeeded does not mean those trends will continue. It simply provides perspective that NHL prospects have a long journey from the draft to the NHL, and sometimes those journeys have to take a bit of a detour, while other times a prospect is able to find a bit of a shortcut.

It is something, perhaps, that is worth keeping in mind as this year’s Canadiens draft class continues its journey next season. But for now, Mešár and Hutson provide good examples of the variance in a draft-plus-one season.

Mešár’s season began with some minor conflict. He had played professional hockey in Slovakia, and therefore the thought of playing major junior hockey in Canada seemed like a demotion, a step back.

Mešár, taken No. 26 last year, wanted to play in the AHL in Laval. The Canadiens wanted him to play in Kitchener in the OHL. Ultimately, the Canadiens’ preference won the day, and initially, it looked like a great decision.

Before leaving for the world juniors in December, Mešár had 10 goals and 12 assists in 17 games with the Rangers. Then with Slovakia over Christmas, he had six points in five games. Everything was going great.

“I think I only played him in one game, very early on when I was with Mississauga, but he’s very crafty offensively, such a skilled forward, someone you need to watch on the ice all the time,” Canadiens prospect Owen Beck said. “He can manipulate the puck well with both his skating and his stickhandling and he’s great at making plays and knows how to get into areas to score as well.”

But upon his return to Kitchener following the world juniors, the production dried up. He scored seven goals in his final 35 regular-season games, or three fewer than he had in his first 17 games. He did get 22 assists, but he was below a point per game and only produced four points in nine playoff games.

It was difficult for him because it was something Mešár had never experienced.

“After world juniors, I don’t think I played bad or something, I just was so unlucky on chances,” Mešár said. “I don’t know what was wrong. So it was an up-and-down season, but it was a great experience for me, something new. I didn’t have something like that before, but now I’m trying to be ready for the next season.”

In retrospect, Mešár is able to view the way he played — and not simply the numbers — in the second half of his season in a positive light.

“To be honest, I felt I played way better after world juniors, I just couldn’t score, couldn’t get any points,” he said. “I don’t know why it was like that, but that’s hockey and sometimes you’re doing good, sometimes you’re doing bad. It was a new experience for me, a great experience, and now I’m ready for everything.

“I just felt better on the ice, way more confident, and I think I created so many chances in those games. We just couldn’t finish. And there was a little bit of frustration after. I think we had a really good team that year, but we could have done better. It was a bit of a tough season for me.”

Mešár loved his billet family and loved being around players his own age. But it wasn’t professional hockey, not like what he was used to playing with men. There were benefits to that, but Mešár craves that professional environment, which is why he once again sees himself playing in Laval next season.

Again, that will be up for discussion with the Canadiens, and the way they are setting up Laval to be a very young team next season, they will be likely to feel more comfortable with Mešár making the jump now after a year’s apprenticeship to North American hockey last season. His experience in Kitchener demonstrates that even the most well-intentioned development decisions don’t always produce the desired results. But that also doesn’t mean his development was necessarily hindered because learning how to play on the smaller ice also has its value.

“At world juniors, we were a really good group of guys, really good friends,” he said. “It was a fun time there and I really enjoyed it. And after that, I felt really good on the ice, better confidence because of world juniors. But I didn’t make that many points, like what people expected from me.

“But I don’t think I really played bad.”

As opposed to Mešár, defenceman Lane Hutson climbed a significant step, going from the USNTDP to the NCAA with Boston University. Hutson played against NCAA competition last season, but this was a permanent step, and for many, it can be a steep one.

It wasn’t for Hutson, who put together one of the best freshman seasons in NCAA history.

Let fellow Canadiens second-round pick and BU teammate Luke Tuch describe the experience of watching Hutson work his magic from the Terriers bench.

“He gets the puck at the point, you’re sitting on the bench and your buddy’s like, oh, here we go, shimmy, shake at the point,” Tuch said. “Oh, he’s going to go right around you. Oh, he’s going to pass back door. It’s like that every time. It’s like, oh, shimmy shake and then he’s going to sift one to the net, tip goal.

“That’s what we see and that’s what he does. So anytime you see him with the puck, you know something good is going to happen.”

It happened with BU, with an astounding 48 points in 39 games as a freshman defenceman. It happened at the world juniors, where Hutson helped the U.S. win bronze with four points in seven games. And it happened at the men’s world championships, where Hutson put up six points in nine games playing alongside Tuch and Canadiens prospect Sean Farrell for a young U.S. team that finished fourth.

The U.S. team was run by San Jose Sharks coach David Quinn, and he had some encouraging words for Hutson.

“He was telling me, just play your game, but one thing in particular, things are coming fast out there so it’s better to make the play you see right away rather than try to make the home run play,” Hutson said. “That’s something I definitely learned there and something he was stressing to me. It meant a lot.”

Quinn also gave Hutson an NHL comparable to follow. And it set a high bar.

“Yeah, he mentioned Adam Fox,” Hutson said. “It was definitely nice to hear that from him. He was saying Adam Fox came to the Rangers and was timid, didn’t want to be the best. Like, he felt bad making great plays. He had to get that confidence, and that’s something he told me, to just be confident.”

Hutson’s defensive play is always the question mark. But based on what Tuch saw at BU this season, it shouldn’t be as big of a question mark as people make it out to be.

“I think people think he’s not physically as mature, and I know he will get more physically mature, but he still has such a good stick and is really good defensively and was still one of the best on our team at angling guys off the rush, reading the play,” Tuch said. “I think midway through the season or towards the end of the season, as a freshman, undersized defenceman, he was playing on our PK, he started playing penalty kill.

“And then when we went overseas for the world championships, he’s taking defensive zone draws and obviously wasn’t playing a defensive defenceman role, he was out there to score goals and make unreal passes and set guys up — but I mean, he wasn’t even a liability there either. So it just shows you again, against bigger and stronger guys, how he can elevate to that level.”

One is a first-round pick, the other was taken at the end of the second round. A year ago, they probably had vastly different outlooks on what their future will look like. And they probably have somewhat different viewpoints on that same subject today.

The point, again, is that prospect development is not always linear. Next season is a big one for Mešár, no doubt. But it is equally big for Hutson, despite the unmitigated success he had last season.

This is a process that requires patience from the Canadiens, but also from the players. Everyone develops at their own pace, and if you allow that process to play out at the proper pace, the rewards can be considerable.

Juraj Slafkovský’s rookie season came under massive scrutiny because he played in Montreal for half a season, but this is something worth remembering when it comes to him as well. Or Shane Wright, for that matter, who did not have an ideal draft-plus-one season as a high pick.

And it would be worth remembering with the latest high Canadiens draft pick as well.

(Top photo of Lane Hutson: Kyle Prudhomme / Courtesy of Boston University)