Team USA opened their 2025 World Juniors tournament with a bang, defeating Germany 10-4 at Ottawa’s Canadian Tire Centre.
Capitals defense prospect Cole Hutson exploded for a team-high five points, all assists, against Germany. Hutson, the younger brother of Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson, was selected by Washington in the second round of the 2024 NHL Draft.
Hutson’s first involvement on the scoresheet came 8:07 into the first period, leading to the game’s first goal. Leonard hit the 18-year-old rearguard with a hard pass after Hutson sneaked deep into Germany’s zone from his point position and was left alone in front of goaltender Nico Pertuch. Pertuch stopped Hutson, but the puck remained in the crease for James Hagens to jam home. Germany challenged the play for goaltender interference on Hutson but lost the challenge.
Hutson’s second assist came in the dying moments of the second period. After collecting a loose puck from a broken play, he slipped a pass to Gabe Perreault at the right side of Germany’s net.
After Carey Terrance put the USA up 7-2 early in the third period, Hutson rattled off assists on the next three goals by the Americans. The prettiest of the three was his last and third primary helper of the game, a cross-ice dish to Cole Eiserman.
Leonard, the Capitals’ first-round pick from the 2023 NHL Draft who is serving as Team USA’s captain, recorded two points, both assists, in the victory. He skated 19:19 of ice time, fired a game-high nine shots on goal, won nine of his 13 faceoffs, and his line combined to score four goals.
Hutson was one of only two Americans to skate over 20 minutes of ice time in the win (20:48) and finished with the second-most ice time on the team behind only Zeev Buium (24:12). Hutson also finished a game-high plus-7, with no other USA skater finishing better than a plus-4.
Despite leading the team in points, Hutson was not awarded Tissot’s Player of the Game award. Perreault took home those honors with his three-point night (2g, 1a).
Hutson is in the middle of his freshman season at Boston University and has posted 14 points (4g, 10a) in 16 games for the Terriers. This year’s tournament is his first under-20 World Juniors, but he starred at the 2024 U18 World Championship, ranking second on Team USA in scoring with 13 points (4g, 9a) in seven games.
Team USA’s matchup against Germany marked Group A’s first game.
