WHEN KIDS ARE YOUNG in their hockey careers, parents are usually responsible for tying skates. It’s common practice to ask, “Are they tight enough?”
Unless you’re Rob Hutson.
He had a different approach when it was time for his four boys, Quinn, Lane, Cole and Lars, to lace up their skates. He wanted them to understand the physics of skating, so instead of tying skates like a boot, the Hutsons’ skates fit more like slippers.
“From a very young age, I wanted to make sure that they developed ankle strength,” Rob said.
Most parents tie their kids’ skates so tight that ankle strength never fully develops, limiting their ability to get out of their comfort zone. With strong ankles, players can transfer force efficiently and improve their edgework, enabling them to stop and start on a dime.
For the first 30 minutes of a practice session, the Hutson boys would trot out on the ice to practice with their laces completely undone. This wasn’t a once-in-a-while ordeal either. It was how their sessions started, and it wasn’t uncommon for the entire practice to be conducted this way.
The boys never questioned their father. Rob’s methodology was simple: the more difficult the situation is with untied skates, the easier the game feels when their skates are tied.
Enter Cole Hutson. The Boston University defenseman, now a sophomore, is the best blueliner in the NCAA and arguably the best player in college hockey.
If you watch Hutson play, the game certainly looks easy. He won National Rookie of the Year as a freshman after posting 48 points in 39 games. Through 24 games as a sophomore, Hutson is doing it all while averaging 25:45 of ice time per game, which ranks fifth in the nation. He was selected as BU’s Hobey Baker Award nominee.
“He’s been really good in all situations for us this year. He’s first over the boards on the penalty kill, obviously first over the boards on the power play. Plays big minutes. He deserves to be in that conversation all day,” said BU head coach Jay Pandolfo.
During his time at the U.S. National Team Development Program, Hutson’s skates were so loose that, according to his father, he could reach down and take one off during play. Now, he ties his skates tighter — because he’s developed his ankle strength.
The foundation of Hutson’s brilliance is his skating. Jimmy Mullin, who coached both Hutson and Lane at the NTDP and later faced Hutson as an assistant at Merrimack, describes Hutson’s skating as effortless. It’s his ability to use his edges and flexibility to his advantage, which allows Hutson to be one step ahead. His ability to make defenders second-guess is some of the best Mullin has ever coached.
“Cole has the ability to bring people in as close as they possibly feel, and feel that they got him, and he has a way of getting out of it,” Mullin, who’s currently an associate head coach with the Fargo Force in the USHL, said. “Cole’s ability is so smooth and calculated.”
He compared Hutson’s ability to maneuver on the ice to that of James Harden and Russell Westbrook, two of the NBA’s best guards of the 21st century. Harden uses his footwork and exploits leverage to create space. Westbrook is one of the most explosive athletes basketball has ever seen. With or without the puck, Hutson’s speed and explosiveness allow him to blow by defenders on the rush or track back after a long shift in the offensive zone.
“He comes at you with a lot of speed, and then he can make you lean or step one way, and then he’s already set on his edges to go the other way,” said BU assistant coach Kim Brandvold, who spent seven seasons with the Boston Bruins prior to BU. He said he hasn’t seen many players with the skating ability Hutson has.
And none of that gets into Hutson’s ability to deceive opponents. He’s adept at faking intentions and misdirecting opponents, using motions like head fakes or stick fakes.
As Mullin puts it? “Deception creates offense.” And Hutson is an elite offensive generator from the blue line. On top of his collegiate success, he’s the NTDP’s all-time points leader among defensemen with 119. In 2025, he was the first blue-liner to lead the World Junior Championships in scoring, en route to winning gold as an 18-year-old.
According to Nick Fohr, head coach at the NTDP, most hockey players look the same to defenders in that regard.
“Players look similar to your eye and how they move. They’re going to turn to their left, you can see their shoulders dip, their bodies start to turn — you can read all those things. And those become instinctual,” Fohr explained.
But Hutson doesn’t move that way. The way Hutson utilizes weight shifts and fakes makes opponents think he’s moving one way, but he’s really moving the other direction. Defenders are naturally on their heels when he has the puck on his stick, which he possesses more than anyone in the NCAA at 54 seconds per game, according to InStat courtesy of BU Hockey Stats on X. Hockey offers little time to make decisions. Any advantage one can have on an opponent is crucial. It’s difficult to stay disciplined when defending Hutson.
“If his back is turned to you, you don’t know which way he’s gonna go, and he will find a way to make you make the wrong read,” said FloHockey’s Chris Peters, who’s been analyzing prospects since 2011.
Hutson also deceives with his eyes. Peters added that Hutson doesn’t need time and space to make the right play. He can squeeze in a pass or a shot in areas or situations that most can’t, which Peters described as a special ability.
Lane, who’s a deceptive player in his own right, said creating space for teammates is also a benefit of deception — that’s the other way Hutson uses his eyes. He can draw additional defenders his way, creating high-danger opportunities for others. At BU, that is Cole Eiserman.
“He’s the no-look pass king,” Mullin said. “When you look at when Cole Eiserman decommitted from Minnesota to BU, I think I would’ve done the same thing if I knew I had Cole Hutson passing me the puck.”
It’s almost impossible to know what Hutson is going to do next, he adds, and you never know when he’s going to pull out a move you’ve never seen before. Despite not coaching in the conference anymore, Mullin still receives calls from other coaches asking how to stop Hutson.
“Good luck, when you figure it out, let me know,” Mullin tells those who ask.
Other than Lane, Hutson draws comparisons to the two best blueliners in the world — Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes. Just like Hutson, who’s listed at 5-foot-11, 171 pounds, both Makar (six feet, 187 pounds) and Hughes (5 feet 10 inches, 180 pounds) aren’t typical defensemen — they are modern puck-moving defensemen who took the NCAA route, Makar at UMass and Hughes at Michigan.
In Mullin’s view, Hutson is most comparable to Hughes because of his fluidity and his skating. His elite ability to skate and deceive allows him to break down any defender one-on-one, much like Makar, albeit at a smaller size and as a left-shot. Peters tabbed Hutson as “BU’s Cale Makar,” because the Terriers can’t survive without him on the ice.
“Hutson has always had that ability, and you realize how special that is,” Mullin added. “The reality of the situation is, how do you defend it? I’m not kidding you…you don’t really defend it.”
While what Hutson will become at the highest level remains to be seen, his production at the NTDP and in the NCAA is as good as — if not better than — Lane’s, who at 21 is already an NHL star.
Hutson is all but a lock to stick in the NHL. How good he becomes, however, is up to him. Ross Mahoney, an assistant general manager with the Washington Capitals who selected Hutson 43rd overall in 2024, said the path he’s on right now gives him a great chance to be a high-end offensive player.
Above all else, Hutson’s built-in chip on his shoulder — shaped in part by Lane — is what separates him. When the Capitals interviewed him at the combine, one thing stood out to Mahoney from the moment Hutson walked in the door.
“He had that look in his eye,” he said. “That transfers on the ice when you watch him play.”