Cole Hutson’s appearance at the 2026 World Juniors didn’t go as planned.
First, the Washington Capitals prospect nearly saw his tournament end early due to injury after being struck in the back of the head with a puck, requiring a stretcher to take him off the ice and a brief hospitalization. Then, in his return to action with Team USA, the Americans fell 4-3 in overtime to Finland in the quarterfinals.
Ahead of his return game, Hutson made sure to thank those who had sent him messages of support, including the Washington Capitals. Caps head coach Spencer Carbery confirmed to RMNB’s Katie Adler on Monday that he was one of the people from the organization to contact the top prospect both after his injury and the subsequent tough defeat.
“I did, yeah,” Carbery said. “Just reached out to him, then talked to him as well after they lost.”
Hutson finished the tournament with four points (1g, 3a) in three games, becoming the United States’ all-time scoring leader for defensemen at the World Juniors. He wraps up his under-20 national team career with 15 points (4g, 11a) in 10 games for Team USA.
The Capitals were well represented at this year’s World Juniors, seeing six prospects spread among five teams. Carbery mentioned that he has managed to keep somewhat of an eye on the club’s youngsters while navigating a busy NHL schedule with the Caps.
“I’m not going to sit here and say I have a ton of time to watch all of the games that all of our guys are playing in, but I do follow and keep tabs on how the teams are doing, how our individual guys are going, how the tournament’s playing out,” Carbery said. “I read a stat this morning, first time since ’06, all-European final, which is good. I mean, not good from a standpoint of me being Canadian and American, but from a parity in the game of hockey.
“I know the people selling tickets in Minnesota probably aren’t thrilled, but it just goes to show you how competitive on the world stage the game of hockey is right now. You’ve got a lot of proud Swedish guys ready to play for gold. It’s good.”
The Capitals still have two prospects involved on the final day of this year’s tournament, with Czechia’s Petr Sikora matching up with Sweden’s Milton Gastrin in Monday night’s gold medal game. Sikora has been one of the standout forwards this year, notching nine points (2g, 7a) in six games.
Hutson, who was downtrodden after the USA’s loss, will return to Boston University in the NCAA, where he has 20 points (7g, 13a) in 18 games this season. At the end of the 2025-26 campaign, Hutson will have a decision to make regarding his future, as the Capitals will likely offer him a three-year, entry-level contract.
