Cole Hutson scored his first NHL goal in his NHL debut for the Washington Capitals on Thursday.
In doing so, Hutson and his older brother, Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson, joined a small group of brothers over the last 30 years to both record a point in their NHL debut. The other pairs of brothers to do so were Aku Raty and Aatu Raty, and Ryan O’Reilly and Cal O’Reilly.
Cole recorded his point by burying an empty-net goal against the Ottawa Senators with just 26 seconds remaining in regulation.
While it took Lane 31 games to score his first goal, he did grab an assist in his debut for the Canadiens against the Detroit Red Wings on April 15, 2024.
The 22-year-old blueliner notched two assists in his first two games for the Habs. He then exploded for 66 points (6g, 60a) in his full rookie campaign, winning the 2025 Calder Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year. He has 69 points (11g, 58a) in 67 games this year.
Before the Hutson brothers could claim the feat, the Finnish Raty brothers were the most recent to do so. Aku, a 2019 fifth-round pick, picked up an assist for the Arizona Coyotes on April 17, 2024. His younger brother, Aatu, a 2021 second-round pick, scored his first NHL goal in his debut for the New York Islanders on December 23, 2022.
Aku played just that one game for the Coyotes and hasn’t been back in the NHL. He now plays for Karpat in Finland. Aatu was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in 2023 and has 13 points (4g, 9a) in 51 games for them this season.
Preceding the Raty brothers came the O’Reilly siblings. Cal, a 2005 fifth-round pick, assisted on a Ville Koistinen goal for the Nashville Predators on February 28, 2009. Ryan, a 2009 second-round pick, assisted on a Cody McLeod goal for the Colorado Avalanche on October 1, 2009.
Cal went on to play in 145 more NHL games for the Predators, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres, and Minnesota Wild. He was exclusively an AHL player after the 2017-18 campaign, but moved to Switzerland this year to play for the Langnau Tigers.
Ryan is still active in the NHL with the Predators and previously starred with the Avalanche, Sabres, St. Louis Blues, and Toronto Maple Leafs. He won a Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019 and has 61 points (22g, 39a) in 66 games for Nashville this season.
