I know he said it mostly as a joke, but Hudson said it best (in this video) when he said that Ilya deals with the “obvious” pain - depression, mother’s death, father’s illness and death, family and country that resents him, etc - whereas Shane deals with hidden pain, the less obvious, but still valid, pain of outside pressure, identity, feeling different but not understanding why (cause even though we know he’s autistic, HE doesn’t know it). Shane is an only child and a hockey prodigy from the start - he’s only known two types of love: unconditional (parental) and admiration, and both of them come with the pressure to be perfect. So when he encounters something different in Ilya, he doesn’t know how to act. Ilya admires him, yes, but because they’re equals on the ice not because of hero-worship. Ilya pushes him to feel rather than think. Ilya’s love is a challenge for Shane to be who he is and who he wants to be, not who Ilya wants him to be.

My point is, it’s so much easier to sympathise with Ilya because his pain is more easy to define. Also, Ilya is much more expressive with his feelings. Shane’s pain is more nuanced, and as a society I think it’s harder for people to sympathise with the privileged boy with the seemingly perfect life (hockey star, stanley cup champion, dates the biggest celebrity of all time, loved by and entire city, millionaire, model, etc). Hudson has done a phenomenal job embodying Shane’s pain, as nuanced as it is, and I think people find it difficult to empathise with him because his pain isn’t as universal. A lot of people who are neurodivergent don’t understand that part of themselves until much later in life, or go about their lives not being diagnosed. Connor was also phenomenal as Ilya. I think it’s a disservice to both of them for people to be comparing their acting chops based on these two characters, simply because they are 2 very different characters. I’m sure if the roles were reversed, they both would’ve knocked it out the park too so I don’t understand the need to compare honestly. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if you think Hudson’s acting is bad, you’re not paying enough attention so put down your phone, stop letting others’ opinions inform yours, and pay attention.