Cole
Hutson
D · WSH · Offensive · Excellent
- PAL
- 85
- WAR
- -0.1
- Value
- 93
- PTS
- 10
2025-26№ 258 / 325
Cole Hutson (Washington Capitals) stats and profile: offensive production, ice time, advanced stats, WAR and PAL rating.
Cole Hutson
HEIGHT : 183 cm · WEIGHT : 82 kg · SHOOTS : L
Born : June 27, 2006 · St. Louis, United States
Drafted : 2024 · WSH · round 2, pick #43
Contract : $940,833 · 2025-26 → 2027-28 · Entry-Level Contract · RFA · Signing bonus $97,500
NHL record
| Year | Team | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | Washington Capitals | 15 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 12 |
| 2025-26 | Washington Capitals | 14 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 8 |
| NHL totals | 29 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 20 | |
Cole Hutson: our analysis
2025-26 season: 14 GP, 3 G, 7 A, 10 PTS, -3 +/-, 17:27 TOI. WAR -0.1 (258th of 325) · PAL 85, excellent.
Cole Hutson is in his first season in the league. In 2025-26, He posts a PAL Rating of 85 out of 100 (excellent), and his WAR of -0.1 ranks 258th among 325 regulars, in the bottom quarter.
His strengths: offense (96, among the best in the league), power play (93, among the best in the league) and creation (83, well above average). On the other hand, penalty kill (22, well below average) and discipline (36, below average) hold him back.
Breaking down his WAR (goals above average), no component is positive; the costliest: finishing (-0.8).
Contract-wise, his Value score of 93 (exceptional value) weighs his output against what he costs: 50 is what that salary should buy.
Cole Hutson's story
On June 28, 2006, Cole Hutson was born into a path that would quickly tilt toward offensive defence. At the USA Hockey National Team Development Program he broke program marks for production from the back end: 68 points in 61 games in 2022–23, then a 2023–24 season of 15 goals and 51 points in 51 games, leaving the NTDP with 119 career points—surpassing the previous mark.
Hutson continued his development at Boston University in 2024–25 as a freshman, posting 14 goals and 33 assists across 38 games. He led all rookies in points and paced NCAA rookies and defensemen with 1.24 points per game. The season brought major recognition: First Team All-Hockey East, Hockey East All-Rookie, Hockey East Rookie of the Year, the Tim Taylor Award and an AHCA East First Team All-American nod.
Selected by the Washington Capitals in the second round, 43rd overall, at the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, Hutson signed a three-year entry-level contract with Washington on March 15, 2026. He made his NHL debut three days later, on March 18, and scored his first NHL goal—an empty-net tally on the power play—in a 4–1 regulation win over the Ottawa Senators.
Internationally, Hutson has been a consistent contributor for U.S. junior teams. He won gold at the 2022 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, producing nine assists in seven games. At the 2023 U18 Worlds he led all defensemen with 12 points as the United States captured gold with a +41 goal differential. In 2024 he posted four goals and nine assists in seven games, earned a silver medal and was named the IIHF directorate's best defenseman. At the 2025 World Junior Championship he became the first defenseman to finish as the tournament scoring leader—3 goals and 8 assists in 7 games—helping the United States to gold and setting a national record for most World Juniors points by a defenseman.
Hutson's game is defined by offensive creation from the blue line. His numbers at NTDP, in college and on the international stage underline playmaking instincts and a knack for generating points, especially assists, while carrying responsibilities on defence.
Facts drawn from Wikipédia, told in our own words.
Advanced stats
- TOI/GP
- 19:09
- PP TOI/GP
- 1:54
- SH TOI/GP
- 0:04
- Pts/GP
- 0.60
- EV points
- 6
- Hits
- 15
- Blocks
- 10
- Takeaways
- 1
- Corsi % (SAT)
- 56.0 %
- Off. zone starts
- 44.9 %
Stats and photos: NHL (NHL.com)
Prospect value
Scout Report Center →Rank
23
among all 32 teams' prospects
Rating
98/ 100
percentile among prospects at his position
Potential
75/ 80
First line or top pair
Ceiling: 6.4 WAR from age 21 to 26
NHL probability
78 %
of playing 200 NHL games from age 21 to 26
Expected WAR, age 21-26
2.4
the most likely outcome
NHLe
29
NHL points over 82 games, from 2025-26 (NCAA, 35 games)
2026-27 projection
Projected points
48between 31 and 63 (80% range)
- Goals
- 18
- Assists
- 29
- Games
- 80
So far: 9 pts in 15 games. The team has played 15 of 84 games. Projected pace: 0.60 pts per game (last season: 0.71).
The projection follows last season's pace. Tested on 2,265 player seasons (2022-23 to 2025-26): average miss of 9 points over 82 games; for players at 0.9 points per game and up, it ran 5 points high on average.
This is only a projection. It knows nothing about injuries, trades or role changes; one player in five finishes outside the range.
Player ratings, 2025-26
All ratings →Fourteen ratings from 0 to 100 drawn from data, never by hand: 75 = established NHL player, 95+ = elite.
OV · OverallConfidence 19 %
81
Very good
- SK
- Skating
- 84
- Confidence 40 %
- ST
- Strength
- 55
- Confidence 23 %
- EN
- Endurance
- 67
- Confidence 0 %
- DU
- Durability
- 51
- Confidence 40 %
- CK
- Checking
- 75
- Confidence 23 %
- FG
- Fighting
- 80
- Confidence 8 %
- DI
- Discipline
- 70
- Confidence 23 %
- FO
- Faceoffs
- —
- PA
- Passing
- 86
- Confidence 19 %
- SC
- Scoring
- 85
- Confidence 19 %
- DF
- Defense
- 75
- Confidence 17 %
- PS
- Penalty shot
- 76
- Confidence 0 %
- EX
- Experience
- 27
- Confidence 100 %
Why these ratings?Hide details
SK — Skating84
- Top speed (35 %)36.2 · 84
- Bursts > 20 mph /60 (30 %)2.35 · 79
- Distance /60 (20 %)14.4 · 79
- Speed consistency (15 %)35.7 · 88
ST — Strength55
- Contact absorbed /60 (50 %)4.336 · 68
- Body mass (50 %)-1.217 · 54
EN — Endurance67
- Ice time per game (45 %)18.7 · 74
- Total ice time (20 %)239 · 35
- Shift length (15 %)48.9 · 79
- Special-teams time per game (5 %)2.481 · 77
DU — Durability51
- Share of games played (100 %)0.62 · 51
CK — Checking75
- Hits /60 (70 %)3.593 · 77
- Season volume (10 %)2.833 · 60
FG — Fighting80
- Fights per 82 games (100 %)0.951 · 80
DI — Discipline70
- Net penalty value /60 (50 %)-0.053 · 70
- Penalties taken /60 (30 %)0.748 · 69
- Penalties drawn /60 (20 %)0.438 · 78
PA — Passing86
- Primary assists /60 (40 %)0.658 · 88
- Secondary assists /60 (20 %)0.477 · 79
- Offensive creation (RAPM) (20 %)0.005 · 76
- Power-play points /60 (10 %)5.466 · 90
SC — Scoring85
- Goals /60 (25 %)0.394 · 88
- Individual xG /60 (20 %)0.286 · 85
- Finishing (goals − xG per shot) (20 %)0.122 · 72
- High-danger chances /60 (15 %)0.233 · 88
- xG per shot (10 %)0.035 · 80
- Shot attempts /60 (10 %)11.1 · 80
DF — Defense75
- RAPM defense /60 (35 %)0.017 · 75
- Relative xG against (20 %)-0.039 · 77
- On-ice xG against /60 (15 %)2.678 · 71
- Penalty kill /60 (10 %)-0.014 · 72
- Takeaways − giveaways /60 (10 %)-1.743 · 80
- Shot attempts against /60 (5 %)57.6 · 78
- Blocked shots /60 (5 %)3.668 · 62
PS — Penalty shot76
- Shootouts (60 %)32.7 · 76
- Penalty shots (40 %)26.7 · 76
EX — Experience27
- Career regular-season games (65 %)38
- Career playoff games (25 %)0
- NHL seasons (10 %)24
OV — Overall81
- DF · Defense (30 %)75
- PA · Passing (22 %)86
- SK · Skating (12 %)84
- SC · Scoring (12 %)85
- EN · Endurance (9 %)67
- ST · Strength (6 %)55
- DI · Discipline (5 %)70
- CK · Checking (4 %)75
The bars show confidence (sample size), not player quality. — : not enough data, not a zero. Engine version 1.0.
WAR and PAL ratings, 2025-26
How we rate →PAL Rating scores performance from 0 to 100 against players at the same position (50 = average player), starting from the player's strength, offensive or defensive. Value Rating compares that performance with what the player costs: 50 means paid what the play is worth.
WAR
-0.1
wins above replacement
258 of 325
PAL Rating
85/ 100
Performance · Excellent
36 of 250 at the position
Value Rating
93/ 100
Exceptional value
0.94 M$ · expected PAL 39
ProfileOffensiveValue comes mostly from offense
- Offense
- 91
- Defense
- 44
See full detailsHide details
- Offense
- 96
- Creation
- 83
- Shooting
- 70
- Possession
- 48
- Defense
- 52
- Discipline
- 36
- Power play
- 93
- Penalty kill
- 22
From 0 to 100; 50 is the average player at the same position, adjusted for ice time.
Hockey IQ, 2025-26
Rankings and method →The quality of the player's decisions with and against the puck at 5-on-5, against regulars at the same position (50 = average). PAL measures output; IQ measures how the player plays.
Overall IQ
92/ 100
Elite
better than 92% of defensemen, offense and defense combined
Offensive IQ
85/ 100
Very good
passing, shots, puck
Defensive IQ
90/ 100
Elite
takeaways, discipline, own zone
Why 92, higher than both scores? Overall IQ isn't an average, it's a rank: 17 of 225 defensemen. Few players are good at both ends at once; being so puts Cole Hutson ahead of almost everyone else.
See full detailsHide details
Offense
- Playmaking passes
- 83
- Shot selection
- 89
- Penalties drawn
- 76
- Puck management
- 16
Defense
- Takeaways
- 100
- Discipline
- 27
- Safe zone exits
- 72
Percentiles: 80 means better than 80% of regulars at the same position. Play without the puck (positioning, coverage) isn't measured: the NHL doesn't publish that data.
WAR, 2025-26
How it's calculated →Wins added to the team, compared with a replacement-level player called up from the AHL.
-0.1
wins above replacement
-0.3 to 0.2 — 90% interval
258 of 325 defensemen
-0.7 goals above replacement
Full leaderboard →See full detailsHide details
- EV offense
- -0.1
- EV defense
- 0.0
- Power play
- 0.0
- Penalty kill
- 0.0
- Shooting
- -0.8
- Penalties
- -0.3
- Average → replacement
- +0.5
In goals.
Player tracking (NHL EDGE)
League EDGE leaderboards →Speed, shot power, distance covered, time by zone: measured by chips in the puck and shoulder pads. 90th percentile = better than 90% of players.
- Hardest shot
- 149.2 km/h79th percentileleague avg. 139.7 km/h
- Top skating speed
- 35.5 km/h83rd percentileleague avg. 34.0 km/h
- Bursts over 20 mph, season
- 1480th percentileleague avg. 8
- Offensive zone time
- 43.9 %81st percentileleague avg. 42.4 %
See full detailsHide details
- Total distance, season
- 71.4 km62nd percentileleague avg. 56.1 km
- Distance, single-game high
- 5.88 km82nd percentileleague avg. 4.98 km
- Offensive zone at 5v5
- 43.6 %71st percentileleague avg. 42.8 %
- Neutral zone time
- 18.4 %68th percentileleague avg. 16.9 %
- Defensive zone time
- 37.7 %84th percentileleague avg. 40.8 %
Shooting
| Shots on goal | Goals | Shooting % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All | 2988th percentile | 497th percentile | 13.8 %92nd percentile |
| High danger | 051st percentile | 084th percentile | 0.0 %0th percentile |
| Mid range | 21100th percentile | 399th percentile | 14.3 %65th percentile |
| Long range | 329th percentile | 077th percentile | 0.0 %67th percentile |
Shots on goal by zone
2026-2027 regular season. Measured by puck and player tracking chips; the percentile ranks the player within the league.
Game log, 2026-27
FLA
DAL
MIN
NSH
PHI
BUF
LAK
NJD
MTL
CAR
SEA
NYR
PIT
TBLCole Hutson: frequently asked questions
How many goals does Cole Hutson have in 2026-27?
Cole Hutson has 4 goals and 9 points (5 assists) in 15 games in 2026-27.
How old is Cole Hutson?
Cole Hutson is 20 years old: he was born on June 28, 2006.
How tall is Cole Hutson, and how much does he weigh?
Cole Hutson is 6'0" (183 cm) and weighs 181 lb (82 kg).
Where is Cole Hutson from?
United States: Cole Hutson was born in St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
What team does Cole Hutson play for?
Cole Hutson plays for the Washington Capitals in the NHL, at D, wearing number 44.
Is Cole Hutson injured?
No: Cole Hutson is not on the latest NHL injury report. This answer is updated throughout the season.
How good is Cole Hutson?
Cole Hutson produced -0.1 wins above replacement (WAR) in 2025-26, 258th of 325 players at his position in the NHL. His PAL rating is 85 out of 100: excellent for his position.
How much does Cole Hutson make?
Cole Hutson earns $941K for the 2025-26 season. His Value Rating is 93 out of 100 (exceptional value): it measures the on-field return for that salary, compared with players at his position.
When does Cole Hutson's contract end?
Cole Hutson's contract runs through the 2027-28 season; he will then be a restricted free agent.
Is Cole Hutson overpaid?
No, he gives more than he costs. His Value rating is 93 out of 100 (exceptional value), where 50 is the output expected for his salary, compared with players at his position.
Is Cole Hutson a top-10 player at his position?
No: by WAR, he ranks 258th of 325 players at his position in the NHL in 2025-26. Our comparison tool puts him side by side with any other player.
How has Cole Hutson played lately?
Over his last 10 games, Cole Hutson has 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists).
What are Cole Hutson's career stats?
Over his NHL career, Cole Hutson has 29 games, 7 goals, 12 assists and 19 points. His best season: 2025-26, with 10 points in 14 games.
Where was Cole Hutson drafted?
Cole Hutson was drafted 43rd overall (round 2) by Washington Capitals in 2024.
How does Cole Hutson perform in the playoffs?
Cole Hutson has not played in the NHL playoffs yet.
Is Cole Hutson a good fantasy pick?
A useful depth pick: our projection has him at 48 points in 2026-27, or 0.60 points per game.
Does Cole Hutson have siblings?
Yes: his brother Quinn Hutson (under contract to the Edmonton Oilers; played college ice hockey at Boston University), his brother Lane Hutson (defenseman for the Montreal Canadiens; played college ice hockey at Boston University).
What is Cole Hutson's nationality?
Cole Hutson is American. Internationally: United States — gold at the World U‑17 Hockey Challenge (2022); gold at the IIHF World U18 Championship (2023); silver at the IIHF World U18 Championship (2024); gold at the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (2025); Team USA record for most career World Juniors points (15) and assists (11) by a defenseman (through 2026).
What awards has Cole Hutson won?
IIHF Directorate Award — Best Defenseman at the World U18 Championship (2024) ; Hockey East Rookie of the Year (2024–25) ; Tim Taylor Award (2024–25) ; First Team All‑Hockey East (2024–25) ; Hockey East All‑Rookie Team (2024–25) ; AHCA East First Team All‑American (2024–25).
How many championships has Cole Hutson won?
4: Gold medal — World U‑17 Hockey Challenge with the United States (2022); Gold medal — IIHF World U18 Championship with the United States (2023); Silver medal — IIHF World U18 Championship with the United States (2024); Gold medal — World Junior Ice Hockey Championships with the United States (2025).
Where did Cole Hutson play before turning pro?
USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NTDP), 2022–23 and 2023–24; Boston University (college), 2024–25.
How many points is Cole Hutson projected to score in 2026-27?
Our projection has him at 48 points in 80 games in 2026-27 (31 to 63 points, 80% interval), based on his recent seasons, age and role.
See also: his Washington Capitals teammates
Full roster →
NHL.com ↗ · Stats and photos: NHL (NHL.com)