{"id":69984,"date":"2025-08-15T10:30:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T10:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/69984\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T10:30:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T10:30:07","slug":"boston-university-head-coach-jay-pandolfo-believes-cole-hutson-will-be-ready-for-nhl-jump-after-next-season-its-not-going-to-surprise-me-at-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/69984\/","title":{"rendered":"Boston University head coach Jay Pandolfo believes Cole Hutson will be ready for NHL jump after next season: \u2018It\u2019s not going to surprise me at all\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cole Hutson is headed back to Boston University for his sophomore season this fall. The 19-year-old defender is one of the top prospects in all of hockey, finishing his first year at BU as the top freshman in the nation after winning the 2025 Tim Taylor Award as NCAA Rookie of the Year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Given his already tremendous success in the NCAA, talk of the Washington Capitals trying to lure Hutson away from a third year of college hockey has begun. While Hutson himself has previously indicated he is in no rush to cut his college career short<\/a>, his head coach at BU, former NHL forward Jay Pandolfo, believes he\u2019ll definitely be ready for the move.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe really is a special player,\u201d Pandolfo told NHL.com\u2019s Tom Gulitti<\/a>. \u201cSo, just like I thought Lane (Cole\u2019s older brother) was ready to go when he went, it\u2019s not going to surprise me at all to think that Cole will be ready to go after this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hutson\u2019s older brother, Lane, made the jump to the Montreal Canadiens after playing two years at BU and immediately hit the ground running. The 2025 Calder Trophy recipient as NHL Rookie of the Year posted 66 points (6g, 60a) in 82 games for the Habs this past season.<\/p>\n

Both Hutson brothers recorded 48 points in 39 games during their freshman years at BU, but, unlike Lane, Cole managed eight points (2g, 6a) in his first four NCAA Tournament games. Lane only recorded four points in his six career tournament games for BU.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Cole is more physical than Lane is, but I think the thing that separates both guys is their ability to read the ice and their anticipation, their puck control, how strong they are on their skates, their edges,\u201d Pandolfo said. \u201cThey\u2019re very similar that way, but it\u2019s their hockey sense that separates them and their competitiveness. Both of those guys\u2019 competitiveness is off the charts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hutson was a top performer at the most recent Capitals\u2019 development camp, with general manager Chris Patrick even saying he was at a \u201cdifferent level\u201d than most of the group<\/a>. Hutson\u2019s 3-on-3 team won this year\u2019s tournament at the camp, and he scored two goals in the championship victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll kind of give him space,\u201d Patrick said. \u201cI know he\u2019s got some goals this year for what he wants to do at BU. And then once his season\u2019s done, we\u2019ll put the push on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Capitals went through a similar college process with top prospect Ryan Leonard last season. Leonard delivered 49 points (30g, 19a) in 37 games for Boston College during his sophomore season and then signed with the Caps once the Eagles were eliminated in the NCAA tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cI expect him to have a terrific year this year, so you can\u2019t worry about [his decision on turning pro] until it comes,\u201d Pandolfo said. \u201cBut he\u2019s going to be a big part of our group this year. I\u2019m looking forward to watching him. I know he\u2019s really excited for this season, too. He\u2019s said it a few times. So, I\u2019m looking forward to it. I know if he\u2019s excited, that\u2019s going to be good for our group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hutson will be eligible to sign an entry-level contract with the Capitals whenever BU wraps up their season next spring. The Terriers are expected to compete for a national championship again after falling in the final game this past year to Western Michigan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cole Hutson is headed back to Boston University for his sophomore season this fall. The 19-year-old defender is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":["post-69984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}