(Buffalo) If Cole Hutson were to be drafted by the Canadian, he would arrive on familiar ground. And it has nothing to do with what his big brother Lane told him.
Posted at 5:55 p.m.
Last March, Cole Hutson, a defender with the United States National Development Program, suffered an ankle injury. As he is a protégé of the Quartexx firm, located in Montreal, it was in the metropolis that he was invited for his rehabilitation.
“I took the opportunity to attend about eight Canadian games,” he tells The Press. It was crazy because fans recognized me, asked me for photos, for autographs. Seeing this, you understand that you are in a hockey town. It’s incredible. »
By proxy, he was therefore able to understand the enthusiasm with which Lane Hutson was awaited. However, he was not entitled to the full amount; On April 16, when Lane played his first game at the Bell Centre, Cole was headed to Finland for the Under-18 World Championship. In fact, he was taking off that day, which allowed him to attend Lane’s very first game the day before, in Detroit.
What does he take away from it? “I don’t remember where I was sitting, it’s so blurry in my head! “, he admits. However, it’s less vague when we ask him if a sequence marked him during the match. “His first point, obviously. He received David Savard’s pass, skated along the blue line, shot and [Brendan] Gallagher deflected the puck. I will remember it until I die! »
Gallagher scored on the return instead, but let’s give him the points for the effort.
The burden of the little defenders
It was at the prospect evaluation camp for the NHL draft that we met Cole Hutson, on a sunny late afternoon.
The young man is categorical. “My goal, my whole life, has been to do everything Lane does, but better,” he says. He is following in his brother’s footsteps by participating in this camp, and next fall, he will succeed him on the blue line at Boston University, where he “hopes to do even more than him!” » Not an easy task, knowing that Lane Hutson beat the marks of a certain Brian Leetch in the NCAA…
At the evaluation camp, the teams carry out interviews. The hopefuls are also subjected to physical and medical tests, they are measured and weighed.
This stage is special for the Hutson brothers. During his time here in 2022, Lane gave the teams a medical report attesting that his growth was not complete. He had still slipped to 62e draft rank.
Cole will never be confused with Jeff Juden either. The NHL measured him at 5’10 ¼” this week. As an indication, of the 57 defensemen drafted in the first two rounds since 2021, only 8 were under 5’11” tall. And here we are in the middle of the Stanley Cup final with two teams that only have guards 6′ or taller. On the Oilers, the shortest defenseman, Brett Kulak, is 6’2”.
However, Cole will have to face the same challenges as his brother, because he has a similar profile. Even if he set the single-season points record for a defenseman in the American program, there is no guarantee that he will be claimed first round. This will not be the case if the 32 teams have the same reading as the NHL Central Scouting, which ranks it 55e among North American skaters.
But thanks to his big brother, Cole Hutson was ready to face the doubts. “I know how to answer questions about my height. »
Lane and I have had to fight the image of the small, not-very-good-at-defense defender our entire lives. We’ve always tried to prove people wrong, and it works.
Cole Hutson
He remains evasive about the recruiters’ reproaches. “Details,” he says. They don’t name anything I’m doing horribly wrong, but they don’t think smaller guys can play defenseman in the NHL. »
The situation makes Joe Pereira jump. The latter is an assistant coach at Boston University, where Lane Hutson played for the last two seasons. Pereira also helped recruit Cole Hutson.
“People should talk about what he can do; drive a numerical advantage, produce attack at 5 against 5. He’s a defender who always ends up in the positive, so at the end of the day, he helps you win matches”, pleads Pereira, on the line .
THE coach cleverly dodges the question about defensive skills. “I see a guy who often has the puck, so he doesn’t have to defend often. But his defensive game doesn’t scare me that much. I understand that recruiters have a job to do and that some are afraid to associate their name with a small defender. But he was successful everywhere. »
It’s a talent of 1er turn, and if he slips to 2e turn, a team will be very happy.
Joe Pereira, assistant coach at Boston University
Will this team be the Canadian? He had a meeting with Montreal this week, but the meeting had not yet taken place at the time of our interview on Tuesday.
“I think it could work,” believes Cole Hutson. Lane and I have trained together a lot over the past few summers. We work very well together. We would fit in well with the Canadiens staff. Martin St-Louis was also a little player and he knows how to coach. I would be good to him. »
A great sage once said that one glass of milk is good, but two is better. However, one wonders if NHL teams will say the same about smaller defenders.
