2024 NHL Draft Notebook: Cole Eiserman, Cole Hutson and Teddy Stiga
Cole Eiserman
Photo by Rena Laverty/USA Hockey NTDP
This season, I want to give more insight into the process of how I track 2024 NHL draft-eligible players throughout the year by opening up the scouting notebook.
Throughout the season, I maintain a “notebook” with scouting reports on players. While I don’t write a game report for every game I watch of a player, I attempt to do so for most views I have of them. This provides me with an excellent chance to track a player's development throughout the season and note improvements in their play – or the lack thereof.
This week, we look at a trio of USA Hockey National Team Development Program players from the recent Under-18 Four Nations tournament. First up is elite goal-scoring winger prospect Cole Eiserman. Then we examine highly regarded defender Cole Hutson. We cap today’s notebook by evaluating the intriguing undersized winger, Teddy Stiga.
Cole Eiserman, LW, U.S. NTDP (U-18 Four Nations), 5-foot-11, 192 pounds
Nov. 12, 2023, vs. Czechia U-18 - In yet another frustrating game from Eiserman, he comes out of it with two goals, one on the power play. Eiserman is an elite shooter who has leaned on his shot to find success for a long time.
Early in this game, Eiserman was disengaged away from the puck in all three zones and didn’t show any urgency. He often flew the defensive zone early, looking for his teammates to find him in the neutral zone for a breakout pass. Eiserman got the puck in the neutral zone, and while he got it over the offensive blueline a few times with control, he was quick to flip the puck into the zone and allow a teammate to hunt it down. Defenders on the Czech squad jumped up and closed the gap somewhat quickly, and Eiserman consistently opted to dump the puck past them rather than use his puckhandling and feet to evade when he did have space.
He didn’t use his skating effectively in this game, failing to use crossovers and standing far too upright as he moved up the ice. It's unfortunate because Eiserman is a good skater who can generate speed and power in his stride when he wants to. There were just far too many times when he would check out of the play away from the puck, especially defensively, which made him a non-factor on the play.
With that said, he became more engaged as the game progressed. He still tended to float through the middle of the ice or not use his skating in transition, but his effort level rose defensively, which was good to see as the Americans began to pull away in the game. While he started to become a willing and engaged defender, he would puck chase and find himself out of position.
Eiserman was a lethal threat on the power play, with his shot being his main weapon. He was a bit lackadaisical at times with his stickhandling and protection, which was also unfortunate, but when he could unload his shot, he had a chance to score every time.
He found the back of the net once on a 4-on-3 power play, stepping into a one-timer from high in the slot. Eiserman’s shot was perfectly placed, low and into the bottom farside corner, through traffic.
He scored an even-strength goal late in the game when the Americans were up 8-2. The Czech goaltender settled down a dumped-in puck for a defender who took it around the net. Eiserman chased the defender down and applied back pressure as the Czech defenseman tried to exit the zone. An incoming American forward turned the puck over just inside the offensive blueline, and Eiserman veered off and rotated into the slot to help set up a 3-on-1. Upon receiving the pass, Eiserman unloaded a quick shot to beat the goalie from right in front in the slot.
Eiserman’s shot is undeniably elite. That alone should make him a highly regarded prospect in this draft class. His finishing talent is as good as anyone in the last few years.
Despite the even-strength goal he scored, Eiserman was a minus-2 against Czechia. One goal against came when he did very little to get back in the defensive zone. By the time Eiserman reached center ice, the opposing team broke into the offensive zone and sniped it from the high slot. Another one of the goals against was a direct result of Eiserman’s lack of attentiveness, losing his guy on the backside high in the zone with little effort to get back into the play.
Eiserman can go from being a non-factor to being the most dangerous player on the ice in the blink of an eye, a reality prevalent in this game.
Cole Hutson, LHD, U.S. NTDP (U-18 Four Nations), 5-foot-10, 159 pounds
Nov. 10, 2023, vs. Finland U-18 - This was a fairly good game for Hutson, who has been up and down to start the season.
His first shift of the game was something, to say the least. Going back to retrieve the puck in his own end along the wall, Hutson sent a blind pass to the high slot, about 10 feet in front of his partner and onto the tape of a Finnish attacker. Huston attempted to recover, diving back into the low slot to try and break things up and was lucky to have not been scored on.
From that point forward, Hutson was more responsible with the puck while still pushing the pace and using his creativity. He showed off his skating many times, breaking up ice in transition and entering the offensive zone with control. There were a couple of moments offensively when Hutson skated himself into a crowd and was closed in on by three defenders, resulting in a turnover. He was quick to get back into a defensive position in the neutral zone to ensure he wasn’t giving up an odd-man rush, though there were a couple of times during sustained offensive zone time when Hutson would pinch and find himself deep in the zone when the opposing team recovered the puck. This left him behind the play, which has been an issue in his game throughout the season.
Hutson saw the ice fairly well as a passer in this one, aside from that opening shift gaffe. He made smart, simple passes when necessary and didn’t try to do too much in his own end when breaking the puck out. If there was a skating lane, he took it, but if there wasn’t, he evaded and made a pass.
On the power play, Hutson stayed mobile and used his teammates along the wall quite well. He didn’t do anything particularly game-breaking on the man advantage, but his passing skill was on display. He stepped up into shooting lanes to fire pucks on net, seemingly looking to create rebounds and havoc around the net with low shots.
On his first power-play shift, he blew a tire but was covered by a teammate when the penalty-killers attempted to take advantage and generate an offensive chance. Late in the same shift, he raced back into the defensive zone for a puck and was outmuscled and pushed off the puck, allowing a Finnish player to cut to the net and get a grade-A chance on the penalty kill.
Hutson scored a 5-on-5 goal in this game as one of the American forwards disrupted a Finnish breakout and turned the puck over just inside the offensive zone. This led to the Finns scrambling to get back into position. With Hutson already vacating the zone to be in a defensive position, he came flying in as the late man when the Americans regained possession, and he got the pass in the slot. Rather than firing it on net immediately, he attacked downhill and wired a shot as a Finnish defender and American forward battled in the net front, impeding the goalie from sliding across.
One of the two biggest areas of concern with Hutson is his understanding of when and where to attack with the puck and reigning in the all-out offensive style, which was something he did in this game. The other area is his defensive ability when hemmed in the zone and forced into physical battles. Hutson seemingly doesn’t have the skill set or physicality to establish body position and get under attackers on the forecheck. His inability to go into a 50/50 battle and come out with possession is a concern, including in this game. He consistently lost battles below the goal line and was forced into desperation mode.
Hutson also used his skating as a strength defensively by forcing attackers to the outside and guiding them with his stick, but he often had issues with what to do next.
Hutson is a very skilled player, and there are shades in his game of his brother, Montreal prospect Lane Hutson, but they are just glimpses. Cole lacks the dynamic skill and understanding of when to put the pedal to the metal or take his foot off the gas at this time.
Teddy Stiga, LW, U.S. NTDP (U-18 Four Nations), 5-foot-10, 176 pounds
Nov. 12, 2023, vs. Czechia U-18 - This was an energetic and purposeful game for Stiga. He showed an understanding of how to play alongside skilled teammates like James Hagens and Brody Ziemer while contributing to the line in a meaningful way rather than just riding shotgun.
Stiga’s willingness to get in on the forecheck was encouraging, even if his lack of strength was a noticeable factor in board battles. He consistently maintained a high work rate to ensure he made up for his size and strength disadvantage against defenders below the goal line or against the wall. He showed some very encouraging quickness in small spaces, jumping through gaps and squeezing through. He showed some excellent agility and understood he had to outmaneuver opponents rather than outmuscle them.
He struggled to establish his body position and turn his hips into the defender, but his effort never waned. Stiga’s assist in this game came from a nice play on the end boards behind the net, working to win the puck. His ability to slip by the defenseman and poke the puck to his teammate was key to setting this goal up, even if it wound up being a secondary assist.
Defensively, Stiga was a bit hit-or-miss in this game. He seemed to have a great effort on one shift, surveying the wall and his quadrant of the defensive zone, staying between the puck carrier and the defender or winger high in the zone. The next shift, Stiga wandered around a bit, hoping the puck would wind up on his stick by following it around a bit and leaving his man free on the backside.
His agility was an asset as it allowed him to jump on loose pucks and move them to teammates. Stiga’s goal in this game was an excellent display of his spacing and awareness as well. As the play approached him at the offensive blueline in transition, he rotated toward the slot upon entry and faded by the lone back defender to the backside. He created a gap between himself and the puck carrier, got the pass and ripped it into the net by the goalie's glove as he attempted to get over.
Stiga’s constant movement in the offensive zone was a major asset for his line as he rotated into space and constantly provided a high-danger passing option or an outlet down the wall if needed. Stiga rotated between the net front on the power play to the bumper position and ensured he was a constant draw of attention to open teammates up.
Stiga’s processing was another asset in this game. He will be an interesting mid-round prospect to keep an eye on. Physical strength and whether he can keep attacking the middle as a smaller forward will be essential.
