This is true. However, net results will change - and are changing - thought processes and I credit that to the success that players such as Erik Karlsson, Shayne Gostisbehere, Cale Makar, Adam Fox, and Quinn Hughes have had. All of those players saw their draft status hampered due to their style, size and competition. What the league is seeing firsthand now is that smaller, thin players are producing wonderful stats. Just look at Jack Hughes, Trevor Zegras, Mitch Marner, etc. at forward. Connor Bedard is 5-10 and will go 1st and absolutely dominate the NHL in the coming years.
That said, your point is well taken, and you are correct when you allude to scouts making the "safe play" and checking off all the boxes, which include size, body, and reach.
My point is that Hutson is showing that he will be able to compensate for his lack of size with superior skill, agility, hockey IQ, and offensive instincts. When you look at his production this year, I believe I recently read that he has the highest PPG for an NCAA defenseman at his age, ever? He was pacing ahead of guys like Leetch, Fox, and both Hughes defensemen.
If the NHL was still being played like it was in the 90s or DPE, there's a chance a kid like Hutson doesn't even make the show due to executive mindset, but in 2023 and beyond, this kid will be given every opportunity to be the next Housley, Svoboda, Leetch, Rafalski, Karlsson, Hughes... or at a lesser extent... Krug and Gostisbehere.
