The Capitals defenseman discusses what he learned in his first 14 NHL games.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — Cole Hutson can pinpoint the moment that he realized the NHL was a beast of its own.
It came in a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, when Hutson took a hard reverse hit from 6-foot-3, 221-pound forward Charlie Coyle that sent him hard to the ice.
"I don't even think he saw me. I think he just shrugged me off, and it felt like a train hit me," Hutson said.
The hit wasn't just a wake-up call for Hutson, alerting him to how much bigger the league was, but it was a reminder of how much stronger and faster it is than the NCAA.
"Players are so good, you can't anticipate what they're doing, because they'll outsmart you just like you're thinking of outsmarting them," Hutson explained. "It happens so fast, just how quick the game goes by."
That said, Hutson fared well in his first taste of NHL action, picking up three goals and seven assists for 10 points in 14 games, along with a minus-3 rating.
Still, going into his first full rookie campaign, the 5-foot-11, 175-pound defender said it'll be important for him to improve in multiple areas of his game as he continues to adjust to the size and speed of the NHL.
"Just getting bigger, stronger, faster, kind of the usual things I try to do every summer as a smaller guy," Hutson said. "It's something that I'm going to need to work on if I want to stay at this level."
Hutson will train with his three brothers, Quinn, Lane and Lars, back home in the offseason. From there, he'll continue to take away as many lessons as he can to apply to the upcoming campaign, where he hopes to take his role to the next level.
"I've learned a lot... it was an unbelievable experience for me," Hutson said, adding, "I learned so much so fast about the game and how hard it really is to play at this level consistently. So, it's just a head start for next year, and hopefully, I'm ready to kind of stay in the league."