Craig Button

I was exchanging notes with Ken Hitchcock yesterday, and he was asking me, you know, what's the difference between Quinn Hughes and Lane Hudson, and who's better?

I said, you know, Quinn does so many things with his legs, and...

You know, you've got to be a good skater to play well in the National Hockey League.

Lane does so many things with his head.

And I think Landon probably has a combination of both those things.

He has a little bit of Quinn Hughes in him.

He's got a little bit of what Lane Hudson has in him that makes them both so good.

But, I mean, Landon.

Landon's going to turn 17 here next week.

17, and he's dominated as a 6th-year-old.

He was great as a 15-year-old, and there's no question in my mind that he's got a shot to be the first overall pick.

I mean, there's a couple of centers, a couple of bigger centers, but Landon controls the game, and we watch how these defensemen are so impactful and how important they are to the success of teams, and Landon, it won't take you long to notice him in the game.

Once the puck's dropped and he's out on the ice, you'll notice him.

I think it is the way the game is played now.

Glenn Dirk, the late Glenn Dirk, he was a longtime scout for the New Jersey Devils, and he always had funny scouting reports.

He used to talk about those small defensemen.

He goes, it might be better to be a jockey in the Kentucky Derby than the NHL because that's the way the game was played.

I mean, it was hard.

I mean, it was big.

It was heavy.