It’s that time of the year for The Win Column’s NHL Draft Rankings and Draft Profiles! The 2024 NHL Draft will be held on June 28 and 29 at The Sphere in Las Vegas.
Next up is Cole Hutson, the 32nd-ranked prospect in our consolidated rankings. Huston is the younger brother of the Montreal Canadiens’ Lane Hutson, who was selected 62nd overall in the 2022 NHL Draft. Lane comes with high praise these days, but Cole has been even more productive than his older brother at nearly every level thus far in his young career.
Who is Cole Hutson?
| PLAYER | POSITION | HANDEDNESS | HEIGHT | WEIGHT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cole Hutson | D | L | 5’10” | 159 lbs |
Hutson is another product of the US NTDP, which has recently produced many very good hockey players. The NTDP has produced star NHLers in the last five years, including Jack Hughes, Trevor Zegras, Cole Caufield, Matt Boldy, Matthew Beniers, Jake Sanderson, Luke Hughes, and Logan Cooley. Hutson joins Zeev Buium and Cole Eiserman as the latest out of the NTDP looking to be chosen in the first round of the NHL draft.
The product of North Barrington, Illinois, is committed to Boston University of the NCAA next season.
Hutson’s on-ice production
| YEAR | DRAFT RELATIVE | LEAGUE | TEAM | GP | G | A | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019–20 | D-4 | AYHL 14U | North Jersey Avalanche 14U AAA | 25 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| 2020–21 | D-3 | AYHL 14U | North Jersey Avalanche 14U AAA | 16 | 8 | 21 | 29 |
| 2021–22 | D-2 | AYHL 16U | North Jersey Avalanche 16U AAA | 24 | 20 | 42 | 62 |
| 2022–23 | D-1 | NTDP | U.S. National U17 Team | 42 | 8 | 34 | 42 |
| NTDP | U.S. National U18 Team | 19 | 2 | 24 | 26 | ||
| USHL | USNTDP Juniors | 32 | 4 | 21 | 25 | ||
| WHC-17 | USA U17 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 9 | ||
| WJC-18 | USA U18 | 7 | 1 | 11 | 12 | ||
| 2023–24 | D+0 | NTDP | U.S. National U18 Team | 43 | 11 | 27 | 38 |
| USHL | USNTDP Juniors | 19 | 3 | 9 | 12 |
Hutson has racked up points at every level of hockey so far. In his D-4 season in 2019–20, he played 25 games in the Atlantic Youth Hockey League’s U14 and recorded four goals and nine points. The next season, in just 16 games, his production skyrocketed to eight goals and 29 points.
After dominating the U14, Hutson moved up to the AYHL’s U16 for his D-2 season. In 24 games, he scored 20 goals and a team- and league-leading 62 points. He was clearly well above his peers at this point and ready for more of a challenge.
Last season, Hutson played for the NTDP. In 42 games with the U17 team, he scored eight goals and 42 points. He was even more productive for the U18 team, scoring two goals and 26 points in just 19 games. His 68 points in 2022–23 set an NTDP record for most points by a defenceman in a single season, surpassing Cam York’s 65 from 2018–19. For comparison purposes, Lane Hutson had 63 points in 2021–22. Cole also got 32 games in the USHL, where he scored four goals and 25 points.
Hutson played for the USA’s U17 team at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge last year, registering nine assists in seven games. Of course, he also played for the USA’s U18 team at the World Junior Championship, scoring a goal and 12 points in seven games.
In his draft year, he’s continued to shine. He scored three goals and 12 points in 19 games in the USHL, and 12 goals and 41 points in 46 games for the NTDP. Although his numbers in the NTDP aren’t as gaudy as the previous year, they are impressive nonetheless. Naturally, he was back at the WJC this year and scored a pair of goals and five points in three games.
Hutson’s strengths
Skating
Like his brother, Lane, Cole is a dynamic skater. He’s a smooth skater with a ton of speed to burn and excellent edgework. He uses his edges almost effortlessly to evade opponents and can stop and start quickly. He skates well in reverse, too, and is also able to generate good speed with his crossovers.
For a smaller player, you’d expect him to get pushed off the puck pretty easily, but that’s not the case. Hutson uses his body very well to protect the puck.
Vision/Puck skills
Hutson’s vision is evident in his passing ability. Whether it’s a saucer pass or a no-look pass, he seems to find his teammates’ sticks with ease. Though he’s known more as a passer, he’s good at identifying when to shoot the puck, and his shot is very good.
You’ll often see Hutson using his incredible skating ability to open up lanes before then quickly putting a pass onto the tape of one of his teammates. You’ll never catch Hutson with his head down, either; it’s always up, scanning for seams.
Creativity
His creativity goes hand-in-hand with his skating, vision, and puck skills. As I said, he uses his skating to create lanes and his vision and puck skills to find teammates. He does this at a high level that projects well to the NHL as a defenceman who can run a power play.
Hutson’s areas of improvement
Size and strength
Listed at 5’10”, Hutson is on the smaller side for an NHL defenceman. Notably, Quinn Hughes is also listed at 5’10”, and that hasn’t been an issue for him. Hutson will need to add some muscle mass to his frame, though, as he’s listed at a paltry 159 lbs. Remember that Hutson is only 17 years old right now, so he’ll naturally add some size and strength over the next couple of years.
Defence
Hutson’s defensive play leaves something to be desired. He loves to fly around the offensive zone and has the speed and skating to backcheck. He has good gap control, too, and he relies on his skating to elevate this aspect of his game.
Hutson thinks the game at a very high level, offensively. Often, that seems to be at the expense of the defensive side of the game. On transition, he’ll leave his defensive zone too early sometimes, leaving his defence partner outnumbered.
Another area of Hutson’s game that needs improvement is battles in deep with forecheckers. He just doesn’t have the strength yet to win those battles. As he gets stronger and develops his defensive game more, I think we’ll see him start winning these battles more, too.
Hutson’s comparables
It’s hard not to look at Cole Hutson and see his brother, Lane. As for a more established comparison, I think Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes is a good one. The caveat is that Hughes is incredibly impactful on the defensive side of the puck, while Hutson needs a lot more work in that department.
Much like Hughes, Hutson has the skating, vision, puck skills, and hockey IQ to become a very good puck-moving defenceman at the NHL level. However, his play in his own zone could hold him back from becoming a superstar.
Fit with the Flames
The Calgary Flames’ best prospects on the blue line are unquestionably Jeremie Poirier and Hunter Brzustewicz. While both look promising, the Flames lack a high-end dynamic talent on defence. Enter Cole Hutson. Hutson would immediately be the most exciting prospect at any position in the Flames’ system.
I truly believe Hutson can become an elite number one defenceman, much like Quinn Hughes. He plays a game that’s nothing like that of any current Flames defenceman, nor any in recent memory. He’s the type of talent that electrifies fans, and after everything we’ve dealt with over the last few years, we desperately need a player like Hutson to get excited about.
Hutson is expected to be selected anywhere from late in the first round to early in the second round. The good news for Flames fans is the team has a pick in that range: the first-round pick acquired from the Canucks in the Elias Lindholm trade.
Summary
Cole Hutson, like his brother Lane, is a dynamic offensive defenceman who needs to get bigger and stronger and improve his defensive game. Otherwise, he has the framework of a superstar NHL defenceman. He’s an incredible skater with a high hockey IQ, handles the puck well, and has shown an ability to dominate shifts against his peers as well as players a couple of years older.
I don’t think it’s a question of whether his skillset will translate to the NHL because I’m positive that he’ll be an NHL player. The question is, how high can he soar? Can he get bigger and stronger and elevate his defensive game to develop into a superstar like Quinn Hughes, or will his defensive game never catch up to the rest, causing him to top out as something more like Shayne Gostisbehere or Erik Gustafsson?
Risk: 3/5
Reward: 5/5
Projection: top-four offensive defenceman / power play quarterback
Check out all of The Win Column’s individual player profiles of selected 2024 NHL Draft prospects:
Macklin Celebrini | Ivan Demidov | Artyom Levshunov | Sam Dickinson | Cayden Lindstrom | Berkly Catton | Cole Eiserman | Zeev Buium | Konsta Helenius | Zayne Parekh | Carter Yakemchuk | Anton Silayev | Tij Iginla | Adam Jiricek | Michael Brandsegg-Nygard | Liam Greentree | Igor Chernyshov | Trevor Connelly | Aron Kiviharju | Michael Hage | Ryder Ritchie | Sacha Boisvert | Nikita Artamonov | Maxim Masse | Cole Hutson | Beckett Sennecke | Dominik Badinka | Emil Hemming | Henry Mews | Terik Parascak | Alfons Freij | Charlie Elick | EJ Emery | John Mustard | Luka Misa | Tanner Howe | Lucas Pettersson | Matvei Gridin | Dean Letourneau | Leo Sahlin Wallenius
