Inside Wheeler’s Shocking Summer 2025 NHL Prospect Rankings: Who’s the True Future Star?
He’s a 5-foot-10/11, 171-pound left-shot defenseman with dynamic on-puck movement, impressive handling and an NHL release (he has a wicked release and pre-shot adjustment). His point-per-game U17 season (and well above point-per-game U18 team production) set the single-season D points record at the NTDP, and he set the all-time mark at U18 worlds, doing it while four and a half months younger than his big brother Lane was at the same age (he was the most talented defenseman on either of the NTDP’s teams in his two years there, which says something considering what Zeev Buium has since become). He was also the most impressive defenseman as an underager at a previous U18 worlds. In his draft year, though the points didn’t come quite as easily for him early on and some scouts felt he had a disappointing first half, he was excellent late in the year, and it was clear all season long that he was trying to really dial in his game defensively. His NTDP team also didn’t have a great blue line around him, which required them to pull back on him a little. Last year, after what he called another disappointing start at BU, Hutson was productive even when he didn’t think he was at his best and took it to another level after returning from the World Juniors (where he also led the tournament in plus-minus at plus-11 and was named to the media all-star team), leading the Terriers to the Frozen Four final.
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