In terms of rookie defenseman seasons Hutson's likely having the best one in league history. Close to the record but Larry Murphy played in the highest scoring era with a 135 point center and two other 100+ point players on his team. For points % Hutson is the GOAT rookie season; absolutely deserving of the word generational for an individual season. It doesn't mean Hutson is generational, but he is arguably having the best rookie dman season in league history.
Since generations are only 15 years typically, and no one has been this good since the 80s, it's basically triple generational. I guess we can call him Triple H(utson). He is the game and he is that damn good. You know?
Generations, referring to family lineage, are typically 25 years. How many kids you see having kids of their own at 15? Was your grandmother 30 when you were born? I bet she's a total gilf.
Gretzky had 51 goals and 137 points in his rookie season. I don't give a shit what other people say about it being a rookie season or not, he was still 18. 104 points as 17 year old in the WHA. Even if it wasn't on par with the NHL, most aren't scoring that in Junior at his age. That's generational.
Bobby Orr's greatness didn't really display itself until his 4th season in the league (when he was 21), but I don't know enough about his rookie season to comment (player usage, injury, etc.). 45ish years after retirment, he's still 10 all time in points for a defenceman, 7th in goals, and 12th in assists. All while playing 400 games less than anyone close to him (the man on top has close to 1000 more games played). He has a 1.39 PPG. Next closest? The second leading scorer of all time, Paul Coffey, at 1.09. That's generational.
Mario Lemieux scored a ridiculous 282 points in his last year of junior (in fairness, it looks like they played shinny back then), and 100 points in his rookie campaign. I don't think I need to go on about the greatness that is Mario. That's generational.
Are my standards too high? Maybe. Perhaps there's a discussion for Sid or Ovie or McDavid. None of those, however, separated themselves from the pack like the holy trinity. You may make a case for Ovie just on his endurance and his continued excellence for so long.
Getting back to Hutson, he is dynamic and proving to be an exceptional offensive defenceman. And you never know, he may very well prove himself to be generational by the time is all said and done. He's just nowhere close to it now.
Getting back to the original premise, If you're looking at a true generation, then that's 3 in about 58 years (Orr broke in during the 66-67 season). Sounds about right. I don't know how old you are, but I still believe you never saw true greatness play if you're going to couple Hutson in with the the aforementioned. Most people around here think they come around every 2-3 years. Ridiculous.
