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Cole Hutson

#44 · Defence · Washington Capitals

Born Jun 28, 2006 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA (age 20) · 6'0", 180 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 43rd overall in 2024 by WSH (round 2)

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2026-27. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Alexandre Carrier MTL · 2 P in 3 GP Brandt Clarke LAK · 2 P in 3 GP Brent Burns COL · 2 P in 3 GP Devon Toews COL · 2 P in 3 GP Dougie Hamilton NJD · 2 P in 3 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

02468102025-26: 10 points1025-262026-27: 2 points226-27

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2025-26 WSH 14 3 7 10 -3 8 22 16 0.71 $941K
2026-27 WSH 3 1 1 2 1 4 7 1 0.67 $952K
2 seasons Career 17 4 8 12 -2 12 29 17 0.71

2026-27 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
3 1 1 2 1 4 7 1 0.67 14.3 18:13

Contract

$952KCap hitends in 2028
$476KCap dollars per point2 points in 3 games
$2.794MCap dollars per goal above replacement0.3 goals above replacement, projected

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. The season is still being played, so each rating is projected over the whole season: the games played so far, plus the games left at the rate of the last three seasons and this one.

The contract

Signed by the Washington Capitals on Mar 15, 2026, as an entry-level contract: 3 years, beginning in 2025-26. It runs through 2027-28, with 1 season left after this one.

Season Cap hit
2025-26 $941K
2026-27 $952K
2027-28 $941K

Each season left on the contract. Only its cap hit and its end are known: how the pay is split by season, and any signing bonus, are not.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Mar 15, 2026 Washington Capitals Entry-level 2025-26 to 2027-28 3 $941K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2026-27 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2026-27 analytics

Rating, projected over the full season

2026-27 is still being played, so these are a projection of his whole season, not a count so far: what he has done in 3 games (-0.1 goals above replacement), plus the 18 more he is taken to play, going by how much of his team's games he has played before, at a rate set by his last three seasons and this one. The more he plays, the more this season counts, and by the last game it is simply his season.

+0.3Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
+0.1Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-0.3Goals above averagethe five parts below added up
Even-strength offence+1.1Even-strength defence-1.0Power play+0.1Penalty kill+0.0Penalties-0.4

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. His projection rests on fewer than 20 games, counting the last three seasons, too few to be ranked.

00.511.52025-262026-27Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

50.0Corsi for %51 attempts for, 51 against
+4.5CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
49.2Expected goals for %3.0 expected for, 3.1 against
-1.6xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
52.6Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
57.1Goals for %4 for, 3 against
104.0PDO19.0% shooting + 85.0% saves
11Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

These are left plain: he has not been on the ice enough to be ranked. That takes at least 200 shot attempts with him out there, about six or seven games, and a quarter of what the busiest skater has. Over a game or two these numbers are mostly chance.

Who he played with

Defence pairGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Vincent Desharnais · Cole Hutson319:1753.558.33-1
Martin Fehérváry · Cole Hutson310:1040.931.90-0
Dylan McIlrath · Cole Hutson15:1940.038.81-2
Jakob Chychrun · Cole Hutson24:2172.753.50-0

The pairs he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's pairs that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net.

1Goalsnot counting empty-netters
0.6Expected goalsfrom 8 unblocked attempts
+0.4Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.69 expected goals per 60 minutes1st
Shot quality 7.8% chance per attempt1st
Finishing +0.4 goals above expected1stOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 0 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.20.40.60.81Goals 1Expected 0.6

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Oct 7, 2026 vs PIT W 5-3 0 1 1 -1 0 3 0 16:29
Oct 3, 2026 @ TBL L 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 21:03
Oct 2, 2026 @ CAR W 5-2 1 0 1 2 4 3 1 17:08