Cole Hutson is already becoming one of the NHL’s most exciting young players, and his newly formed defensive pairing with Jack St. Ivany on the Washington Capitals has produced some of the best hockey of his rookie season.
The Capitals defensemen have played together for the last three games, and head coach Spencer Carbery has liked what he’s seen from their partnership. Hutson is a uniquely skilled offensive defender who loves to have the puck on his stick and make one-on-one plays in all three zones, and Carbery believes St. Ivany has done an excellent job quickly recognizing how best to play off of that.
“Cole’s one of those players where a lot of what he does, when you watch the film back, and you watch it live, for that matter, he’s not reliant on his partner,” Carbery said. “He does a lot of things when he gets the puck; he doesn’t need to utilize his partner, whether that’s through the neutral zone, off entries, O-zone stuff.
“But there are times when, whether it’s a breakout situation, whether it’s an O-zone blue line touch for St. Ivany that he needs to get to Cole, he’s done a really good job of that.”
Carbery also reemphasized a point he made before St. Ivany’s debut with the team — one of his biggest adjustments would be learning to play alongside a defenseman who doesn’t always operate within traditional defensive positioning.
“The important thing for me is that the partner understands that Cole is going to be in some unique spots, and you have to read off of him,” Carbery said. “You have to always be (looking out of your) left eye, constantly checking to see where he is. Because Cole may be up in a situation or being aggressive, and you may now have Justin Sourdif beside you as a forward.
“So you have to know that, ‘Okay, I probably need to back out in this situation. I probably don’t need to pinch as well and have two forwards covering.’ Little scenarios like that. Cole does things that you just have to always be aware of as a partner and communicate.”
So far, the pairing has been incredibly effective, as the Capitals have dominated five-on-five play with the two on the ice. During their 35:46 of joint ice time, the team has controlled 58.3 percent of shot attempts, 69.4 percent of expected goals, 60 percent of scoring chances, and 71.4 percent of high-danger chances. They have also outscored the opposition 4-1.
Hutson was particularly phenomenal in Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Wild, where he was arguably the best player on the ice from either team. Carbery had the 20-year-old blueliner play with all different defense partners in the 5-1 defeat as the Capitals chased the game from the outset. Still, much of his best work came next to St. Ivany.
“Cole’s played really, really well with him,” Carbery said. “So credit to St. Ivany for coming in here, getting an opportunity and playing real well with it, and also complimenting one of our young, skilled defensemen that has had arguably three of the strongest games of the season playing alongside him.”
Hutson played 18:48 of five-on-five ice time against Minnesota (9:13 with St. Ivany), and during those minutes, the Capitals finished up 38-9 in shot attempts, 16-4 in shots on goal, 23-2 in scoring chances, 8-0 in high-danger chances, and 2.33-0.39 in expected goals. He also notched an assist on Washington’s lone goal in the loss.
Cole Hutson records primary assist against Wild
In that game against the Wild, the Capitals battled Quinn Hughes, a player Hutson may find himself compared to a lot as he continues to develop in the NHL. Hughes, who scored Minnesota’s first goal in their win over Washington, nearly played half of regulation, finishing with 29:40 of ice time and raising his season average to 27:44 per game.
Hughes, who won the Norris Trophy in 2024, would obviously be a good model for Hutson to follow as one of the top offensive stars, let alone defensemen, in today’s game. Carbery was asked how Hutson, who played 19:58 of ice time against the Wild, could one day earn the same sort of responsibility from him that Hughes gets from Wild head coach John Hynes.
“I’d have to see, recall where Vancouver was at as a team when Quinn came in as a rookie,” Carbery said. “Because it’s one situation: if Vancouver is rebuilding, go ahead, Quinn, keep going. We’re down 4-1, but keep going out there. You’re not worried about wins and losses; you just roll a guy out there, let him get experience and learn on the fly, and throw him into the fire. We’re in a different scenario. So that doesn’t mean Cole can’t play the minutes. He’s actually, the last few games, continued to get better and better and better.
“His defensive game, his play without the puck. Things that are happening in our end are going down, down, down, down, which is a really, really positive sign for him. He’s going to get there. I have no doubt he’s going to be able to play in all situations, play more minutes. Early in his rookie campaign, it’s about us as a coaching staff making sure that we’re putting him in positions on the ice to be successful and not putting him in a spot where we’ve put our team in a susceptible situation, protecting the lead.”
Through 13 games in his rookie season, Hutson has recorded eight points (4g, 4a), tying for third-most among all rookies and leading freshman blueliners. No rookie is playing more minutes per game than Hutson (19:08), and he is one of only two total rookies averaging over 19 minutes of ice time.
Hutson has been particularly hot of late, notching three points (2g, 1a) in his last two games. He’ll see if he can continue that streak in his first career game against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night.
