A hyper offensive player who seems to have slipped past most, Cole Hutson may be one of the top American-born defensemen available for the 2022 OHL draft. The first telling sign of how good Hutson is stems from where he plays. Despite being an ‘06, Hutson is actually playing up a year with the 16U group. Even more amazing, he is leading his team in points with almost 3PPG, and all of this is as an underage defenseman. Due to Hutson’s smaller stature, he could best be compared to a defenseman like Quinn Hughes. Hutson’s strengths stem from his offensive abilities, which include his pure skill, his hockey IQ, and his deceptive passing. These all help to make Hutson an extremely reliable offensive defenseman, who can pick up on mistakes and take advantage of them, and thus creating offensive opportunities for his team. Hutson has been working on his play away from the puck as of late, allowing him to develop into a more two-way defender that still packs amazing offensive potential. Hutson typically has a very good sense of humour, however he is an extremely serious person when it comes to game time. As the 2022 OHL draft approaches, expect to see Hutson to be drafted somewhere in the draft. While his skill set puts him on par with some of the best defensemen available, he could slip due to only being 5’6 and 145 lbs. However, if Hutson is able to grow and bulk up, he could jump up in draft stock immensely, but if not, he could become a diamond in the rough defenseman that could become a draft steal.Maybe if someone drops the stigma over small players, they could take a chance on taking Hutson higher in the draft, where he could become a very useful offensive producer for his team.