A system, device, and method for supporting cut-through pats in an optical communication system involves obtaining hop count and quality of service information by an initiating device and using the hop count and quality of service information by the initiating device to make decisions relating to a cut-through path. The hop count and quality of service information is provided in a reply message that is sent by a terminating device and modified by intermediate devices between the initiating device and the terminating device. The terminating device sends the reply with a hop count equal to one and quality of service information for a first link (hop) toward the initiating device. Each intermediate device increments the hop count in the reply and adds quality of service information for a next link (hop) into the reply.