Cole Hutson will accomplish some wild history on Wednesday when he makes his NHL debut for the Washington Capitals.
When Hutson takes the ice against the Ottawa Senators, the rookie defenseman, at age 19 and 263 days, will become the first Capitals teammate of Alex Ovechkin to be born after Ovi’s NHL debut in 2005
Hutson was welcomed to the world on June 28, 2006, eight months and twenty-three days after Ovechkin played his first NHL game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on October 5, 2005. Ovechkin scored twice in the game at the then MCI Center, including breaking the glass on his first shift with a big hit.
After being selected first overall by the Capitals at the 2004 NHL Draft, Ovechkin made his debut at age 20 and 18 days after an NHL lockout wiped out the 2004-05 season. Ovechkin would go on to record 106 points in 81 games that season, including scoring 52 goals. He would go on to win the Calder Trophy as the league’s Rookie of the Year, the same award Hutson’s brother Lane won last year after a sensational season with the Montreal Canadiens.
While Cole grew up and eventually became a bona fide NHL talent, Ovechkin, now 40, scored an NHL record 921 goals and won a Stanley Cup during his 21 seasons in the NHL.
Hutson being born after Ovechkin’s NHL debut is a first for the Capitals captain, but it isn’t the first time this has happened in Capitals history for other players.
According to the team’s Mike Vogel, Zdeno Chara played with two players — Connor McMichael (Jan. 15, 2001) and Garrett Pilon (April 13, 1998) — who were born after his own NHL debut on November 19, 1997, as a member of the New York Islanders. Then, during the Capitals’ inaugural season in 1974-75, team captain Doug Mohns played with four players — Greg Joly, Mike Marson, Tony White, and Paul Nicholson — who were born after his October 11, 1953, NHL debut.
