Oilers Sign Quinn Hutson To Two-Year Extension
The Edmonton Oilers signed forward Quinn Hutson to a two-year, $1.775MM contract extension. The deal will carry an annual average value of $875K. Hutson was signed to a two-year, $1.75MM entry-level contract in April 2025, following the end of his career at Boston University. That deal was set to expire this summer after the Oilers burned the first year of it to allow Hutson to make his NHL debut last season.
An early end to his entry-level contract will come at no expense to the Oilers. Hutson’s next deal will carry the same cap hit and he has only proven his might at the pro level in nearly a year since signing his first deal. The eldest Hutson brother – related to defensemen Lane and Cole Hutson – went undrafted through two years in the USHL even despite posting 73 points and 83 penalty minutes in 59 games of the 2021-22 season. That scoring was enough to earn a three-year tenure at Boston University, where Hutson’s knack for keeping play alive in the offensive zone showed up big during the Terriers’ run to the 2025 National Championship. BU would ultimately lose that game but Hutson did enough to catch the eye of NHL scouts.
Hutson signed with the Oilers immediately after the National Championship and finished the 2024-25 seaosn in the NHL. He didn’t rack up any scoring, and added one penalty, but his presence in the depth chart nonetheless drew attention. He’s earned it so far this year, leading the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors in scoring with 23 goals and 38 points in 30 games and adding his first NHL goal in four more appearances with the Oilers.
Partway through the year, Hutson appears to be an ace up the Oilers’ sleeve. He has earned call-ups as an injury replacement and fared well in his NHL minutes, even despite the low-scoring. It appears only a matter of time before he receives an extended run in Edmonton’s bottom-six, which could be enough to spark his offense at the top level. That will be the upside Edmonton hopes for as they lock in Hutson for two more seasons, at a relatively cheap price.
Oilers Recall Isaac Howard; Reassign Quinn Hutson
Jan. 5th: Hutson’s recall with the Oilers didn’t last long. The team announced that they’ve assigned Hutson back to AHL Bakersfield. He went scoreless against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday over 9:17 of ice time.
Jan. 2nd: The Oilers announced they’ve recalled wingers Isaac Howard and Quinn Hutson from AHL Bakersfield. They had two open roster spots after reassigning Max Jones to Bakersfield on Thursday, so no further moves are required.
In doing so, Edmonton gives two of its brightest young forwards their second chance on the active roster this season. Howard, last season’s Hobey Baker Award winner as the NCAA’s top men’s player, broke camp with the Oilers after they acquired his signing rights from the Lightning.
Immediately slotting in as Edmonton’s No. 2 prospect, he never got a crack in their top six and languished in a fourth-line role for several weeks to begin the season. After recording just two goals and an assist in 17 appearances, averaging 9:30 of ice time per game, the Oilers ended the 21-year-old’s initial run of NHL play and assigned him to Bakersfield to give him his first taste of minor-league hockey.
In the month and a half since his demotion, Howard has been among the AHL’s best players. With a 10-13–23 scoring line in 16 contests, he’s tied for the league lead in points per game (1.44). The 5’11” lefty has been especially hot as of late, recording four goals and 10 points – including a trio of three-point efforts – on a four-game point streak.
Hutson, 24, entered the season as more of an unknown. The older brother of Canadiens star Lane and Capitals prospect Cole was never drafted but broke out as a college superstar as a junior for Boston University in 2024-25, racking up 23 goals and 50 points in 38 games. He signed an entry-level deal with Edmonton as a free agent near the end of the year and skated in the Oilers’ final two games of the regular season, although he was ineligible to suit up in the playoffs.
Viewed as a long-shot candidate to make their opening night roster with more established prospects like Howard and Savoie having a leg up, he was sent to Bakersfield to begin the first full season of his pro career. Like Howard, he’s been among the AHL’s most dominant offensive wingers, ranking top-five in the league in both goals (19) and points (32) in 26 appearances.
That emphatic production got Hutson his NHL debut last month, appearing in a three-game stretch for Edmonton in mid-December. Like Howard, his ice time was extremely limited at just 7:34 per game, but that didn’t stop him from scoring his first NHL goal against the Bruins on Dec. 18.
Now, with six goals and eight points in his last four games for Bakersfield, he gets another opportunity to make himself known as an NHL commodity. Whether head coach Kris Knoblauch will give him and Howard a long enough leash to make a tangible impact remains to be seen, but with veterans Mattias Janmark and Andrew Mangiapane struggling to produce in top-nine roles on the wing, it’s becoming near indefensible not to give some of the Oilers’ most promising talent a chance higher up in the lineup.
Oilers Activate Jack Roslovic, Reassign Quinn Hutson
The Edmonton Oilers will have a bit more oomph in the lineup in Sunday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights. Edmonton has activated winger Jack Roslovic off of long-term injured reserve after he missed just under a month of action due to an undisclosed injury. In corresponding moves, the Oilers have also moved Connor Clattenburg from injured reserve to LTIR, and reassigned rookie winger Quinn Hutson to the AHL.
Roslovic was a big piece of the Oilers’ lineup before going down with injury. He was filling a goal-scorer’s role next to Leon Draisaitl on Edmonton’s best line by goal-differential. Roslovic has three goals in his last five games and 10 goals and 18 points in 23 games on the full season. He has also recorded an 18.9 shooting percentage, far above his career average of 12.8. That likely spells some scoring struggles as he returns from injury – but the well-rounded Roslovic should still be able to provide a strong utility-knife role.
His return will bump the rookie Hutson out of the NHL for the time being. Hutson scored his first NHL goal in Friday’s win over the Boston Bruins. It is the only point he has managed in five career NHL games – but he’s proven to be a reliable source of offense in the minors. The first-year pro leads the Bakersfield Condors with 16 goals and 28 points in 24 games this season. He also has a plus-four, third-highest on the team behind Isaac Howard and James Hamblin. Hutson’s hot scoring and continued adjustments to pro hockey should make him a top call-up option for Edmonton through the rest of the season.
Roslovic’s addition to the lineup comes at a great time for the Oilers. They have posted a 4-1 record in their last five games and a 6-2-1 record through nine games in December. They’ve managede a 38-to-24 goal differential in that span, largely on the back of surging play from superstars Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. Roslovic will help Edmonton elevate those stars even further as they head into important games against Western Conference opponents. Edmonton has six games remaining in December.
Oilers Recall Quinn Hutson
The Oilers announced they’ve recalled winger Quinn Hutson from AHL Bakersfield. After making his NHL debut late last season, the 23-year-old is expected to make his 2025-26 debut tomorrow night against the Penguins. Edmonton already had an open roster spot, so no corresponding move is required.
Hutson, the older brother of star Canadiens defender Lane Hutson and Capitals prospect Cole, went undrafted in 2020 after spending his draft year in an under-18 travel league, multiple steps below major junior hockey. He spent the following two seasons with USHL Muskegon, recording well over a point per game, before beginning his collegiate career as a 20-year-old with Boston University in 2022.
It was there, teaming up with his brothers, where the 5’10” winger put himself on the map. He immediately slotted in as a top-six piece for the Terriers before an outright eruption in his junior year in 2024-25, leading the team with 50 points (23 goals, 27 assists) in 38 games. While that was only enough to get him Second Team All-Star honors from the Hockey East conference, it squarely put him on the map in terms of landing an NHL deal.
Edmonton won the sweepstakes, inking Hutson to a two-year, entry-level deal in April. It began immediately, permitting him to skate in two regular-season games for the Oilers down the stretch. However, since he wasn’t on their reserve list at the trade deadline, he wasn’t eligible to suit up for them in the playoffs.
He was viewed as a legitimate candidate to make a push for a roster spot in training camp, but the Oilers’ addition of Isaac Howard to their prospect pool and depth spots being taken up by free-agent pickups Curtis Lazar and David Tomasek iced him out of a spot. That likely ended up being a blessing in disguise. Hutson has dominated the minor-league circuit as a first-year pro. He leads Bakersfield and is fourth in AHL scoring with a 16-12–28 line in 24 games. He’s been particularly hot as of late, with 10 of those goals coming in his last 10 outings.
The Oilers hope to take advantage of Hutson’s momentum and use him to help jumpstart what’s been a woeful performance from their secondary offense. Just four players – Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Connor McDavid, and the injured Jack Roslovic – have combined for 47% of Edmonton’s total goal output this season. They’re still third in the league overall at 3.33 goals per game, but they need a boost from lower in their lineup as those players’ shooting percentages, all floating near 20%, inevitably cool off.
How much head coach Kris Knoblauch uses Hutson will likely be the deciding factor in how long he stays up. His usage of Edmonton’s younger talent – viewed as important pieces to help shoulder the loss of multiple veterans to free agency last summer – has been a point of contention. Howard averaged just 9:30 of ice time per game to begin the season before being sent to Bakersfield. Tomasek, an elder rookie at age 29 but coming off a Swedish Hockey League scoring title, has averaged under 11 minutes per game. The only under-25 name to make a dent in the Oilers’ top nine has been Matthew Savoie as of late, now averaging north of 14 minutes per game on the year with 11 points in 33 games to show for it.
Oilers Sign Quinn Hutson To Entry-Level Deal
April 14: The Oilers announced Hutson’s deal this morning, making it official. PuckPedia reports his deal carries a cap hit of $875K and breaks down to an NHL salary of $787.5K, an annual signing bonus of $87.5K, and a minors salary of $85K. Naturally, his 2024-25 figures are prorated.
April 13: The Oilers are signing undrafted free agent winger Quinn Hutson to a two-year entry-level deal out of Boston University after the Terriers’ loss to Western Michigan in last night’s national championship game, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet confirms. Cam Robinson of Elite Prospects was the first to report the deal. Hutson will join Edmonton immediately and burn the first year of his contract, although he’s ineligible to suit up for them in the playoffs.
The older brother of presumptive Calder Trophy finalist Lane Hutson and Capitals prospect Cole Hutson turns pro following three years of college play. While the 5’11”, 170-lb righty was a productive top-six presence out of the gate, he reached new heights in his junior season in 2024-25. The Illinois native finished two points ahead of Cole to lead BU in scoring, posting 23-27–50 in 38 games. NCAA-wide, Hutson tied for ninth in goals, 15th in assists, finished ninth outright in points and ranked fourth in the country in points per game.
Arguably the top college free agent available, Hutson provides a significant jumpstart to a 29th-ranked Oilers prospect pool (per Scott Wheeler of The Athletic), even if he’s at the older end of the scale at 23 years old. It’s not as if this year’s breakout was entirely unforeseen. He flirted with the point-per-game mark last season and finished his college career with 56-58–114 in 117 games, seventh in the NCAA over the last three years.
The Oilers’ pool is extremely light on wingers, making Hutson all the more of an important pickup. Their two first-round picks in the system (Sam O’Reilly, Matthew Savoie) are both natural centers, and their best wing prospect before Hutson’s signing was the oft-injured Roby Jarventie, who’s a question mark to receive a qualifying offer this summer after appearing just twice for AHL Bakersfield in 2024-25.
Hutson will push for a spot on Edmonton’s opening night roster next fall as a cost-effective tertiary contributor, presumably in a third-line scoring role. The Oilers enter the offseason with nearly $13MM in space to fill four roster spots, but a significant portion of that money will likely go to pending RFA defenseman Evan Bouchard. They’ll need multiple low-cost players to punch above their weight on offense as a result.
Afternoon Notes: Seguin, Orlov, Hutson, Ostman
The Dallas Stars may take inspiration from their Central Division rival, the Colorado Avalanche, when it comes to easing a star player back into the lineup. Head coach Pete DeBoer shared that the team is deciding whether or not to place winger Tyler Seguin on an AHL conditioning loan as he eases his way back from a hip injury, per Sam Nestler of DLLS Sports. Seguin has missed Dallas’ last 55 games with injury. He is expected to be back to full health in time for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but may not be up to full speed in time to contribute to must-win games. Colorado recently assigned team captain Gabriel Landeskog to an AHL conditioning loan. Neither Seguin nor Landeskog have played any AHL games in their careers.
Seguin was a major piece of the Stars lineup at the beginning of the season. He scored nine goals and 20 points in 19 games to start the year, good for third on the team in points and fourth in goals at the time of his injury. It was an offensive explosion for Seguin, who has struggled to cross the 50-point mark in each of his last four healthy seasons. Regardless of a minor-league conditioning stint, Seguin will soon return to a very different Stars lineup – with feisty youngster Logan Stankoven replaced by high-upside veterans Mikko Rantanen and Mikael Granlund. Adding another flashy winger to that mix could make Dallas a sneaky favorite to win games this postseason.
Other notes from around the league:
- Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Dmitry Orlov is set to hit unrestricted free agency this season, and seems unlikely to receive a confident extension from the cap-strapped Hurricanes. Speculation has connected Orlov to his native KHL for much of the season, but Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman dispelled those rumors in his recent 32 Thoughts article. Orlov is instead expected to stick in the NHL, where he’ll no doubt get plenty of attention from needy teams this summer. Orlov fills a premium, well-rounded role in Carolina. He has scored six goals and 26 points in 71 games this season, averages 20 minutes of ice time each game, and leads the Hurricanes defense with 97 hits. Those marks fall closely in line with how Orlov has performed throughout his 13-year career in the NHL – maintaining the role of well-rounded bruiser through tenures with the Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins. Orlov signed a two-year contract with Carolina in the summer of 2023 – his first time entering unrestricted free agency.
- Friedman also reported that there’s plenty of Western Conference interest in Boston University forward Quinn Hutson, with the end of his collegiate career in sight. Hutson has been a major contributor to the Terriers offense over the last three seasons. His scoring has improved in every year – growing from 28 points, to 36, and to 50 this year. Those improvements have been coupled with clear growth in his game. He’s become a stronger skater and more confident in finding space in the middle of the ice. Those improvements – and his scoring track record – lend themselves to clear pro upside. Hutson, who had a late start to his juniors career, went undrafted through the 2020, 2021, and 2022 NHL drafts. With this news, a team could soon reverse their mistake in looking past him and award the third of four Hutson brothers with his pro hockey debut.
- Finally, the Seattle Kraken have reassigned goaltender Victor Ostman to the minor leagues. Ostman made his NHL debut in relief of Joey Daccord on Tuesday, after the latter allowed seven goals on 22 shots through the first two periods. Ostman saved all 12 of the shots he faced in relief. The 24-year-old netminder is playing through his first season of professional hockey, after spending the last four years at the University of Maine. He’s spent the bulk of the year in the ECHL, where he’s recorded a 21-7-4 record and .903 save percentage in 32 games. Ostman has also contributed a stout 2-1-1 record and .927 save percentage in four AHL games this season. He will head back to the AHL with this move, and could get a chance at plenty more ice time with a clean sheet in the NHL under his belt.
Big Hype Prospects: Gadowsky, Boija, Hutson, Borgesi
College hockey has drawn into the center focus of the hockey world. The NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament kicked off on Thursday, and plenty of players are calculating their next moves by entering the transfer portal or signing pro deals. That attention has lifted up the top athletes across the college world, giving us another reason to borrow from MLB Trade Rumors’ Big Hype Prospects series to share four names to watch with the season coming to an end.
Four Big Hype Prospects
Mac Gadowsky, LD, Army / U.S. Military Academy (NCAA, Atlantic Hockey America, NHL Free Agent)
38 GP – 16 G – 26 A – 42 TP – 6 PIM – +5
The final 10 Hobey Baker Finalists were revealed on March 19th. The list contains star NHL prospects like Zeev Buium and Ryan Leonard – but no name stands off the list quite like Army star Mac Gadowsky. Gadowsky was unstoppable this year, showing brazen confidence on the puck and the energy to make an all-three-zones impact on every single shift. He drove hard on and off of the puck and used his stocky six-foot-three, 185-pound frame to force opponents into tireless, gritty hockey. Gadowsky led all collegiate defensemen in goals scored, largely on the back of his ability to generate dangerous shots from the perimeter after leading the fast break. The sophomore defender found his way to 42 points this season – second among all defenders behind freshman star Cole Hutson – a significant stride forward from his 23 points in 28 games last year. Gadowsky’s motor and grit have been clear for a while, but his scoring was shielded through two years in the NAHL before he moved to Army. He’s broken out in full this year, and looks like a strong bet to earn college’s MVP title after emerging as Army’s top option.
Albin Boija, G, University of Maine (NCAA, Hockey East, NHL Free Agent)
36 GP – 23-7-6 record – .930 Sv% – 1.76 GAA
While Gadowsky sits at the center of Hobey Baker attention, star Maine goaltender Albin Boija will be close to the top of the list of snubs. He was a consistent impact for the Black Bears, working his way to the fifth-highest save percentage in the country while playing in the sixth-most games. The sophomore Boija grabbed firm control of Maine’s starter’s crease early in the season and never faltered enough to earn question. It was a performance that many expected from the 21-year-old netminder, after he posted a dazzling .916 in 18 games as Maine’s backup last season. Boija played behind Seattle Kraken draft pick Victor Ostman last season – and far outperformed the latter’s .892 save percentage. Boija’s breakout year was built on flashes of great athleticism and locked-in movements throughout the entire season. His movements and puck-tracking looked to be at a pro level through his high points this season, but he’s rumored to be headed for a return to college next year, per NHL.com’s Mark Divver. That news will be thrilling news for Maine, who gets back one of the hottest goaltenders across college, and gives Boija a chance to chase the MVP title with another dazzling year.
Quinn Hutson, F, Boston University (NCAA, Hockey East, NHL Free Agent)
34 GP – 21 G – 26 A – 47 TP – 29 PIM – +20
The Boston University Terriers ended the regular season with the most goals in their conference. At the core of their offense has been the Hutson brothers – Washington Capitals star prospect Cole, and emerging junior Quinn Hutson. Quinn has been a top scorer throughout his junior hockey career, netting a whopping 115 points in 104 games in the USHL before moving to BU in 2022-23. He’s grown in every season since, with 29 points as a freshman and 36 points as a sophomore. Both of those totals came narrowly below a point-per-game pace – a mark that Hutson blew out of the water with 21 goals and 47 points in 34 games this season. He’s shown an increased ability to create in the dangerous areas of the ice, getting pucks on net quickly in the slot and using short passes to open space with teammates. He’s not abundantly fast or strong, but plays a well-rounded game with a sharp eye for the net. Those traits, backed by a hard-nosed drive on the forecheck, will be enough to make Hutson a top pro free agent when the Terriers’ season ends.
Vinny Borgesi, RD, Northeastern University (NCAA, Hockey East, NHL Free Agent)
32 GP – 5 G – 17 A – 22 TP – 16 PIM – +1
Five-foot-eight defenseman Vincent Borgesi has been easily overlooked across his juniors career. His scoring hasn’t jumped off the page dating back to his days in the USHL – and his 22 points this season fell just shy of the 28 points he totaled in 34 games last year. But Borgesi’s confidence on and off of the puck has grown exponentially over his three years at Northeastern University. He’s found new ways to use his bulky, 175-pound frame – engaging opponents in the corners and low-slot with far more effectiveness than in year’s past. Borgesi has added those traits while maintaining his quick and snappy abilities on the puck, sparking fast breakouts and seamlessly joining the rush. He was a key driver for the Huskies this season, and offers under-the-radar upside as a puck-mover capable of holding his own away from the puck. Borgesi won’t jump off the page in the same way as his Hockey East peers, but he’ll remain a key name to watch for minor-league squads looking to bolster their ranks before the playoffs.