Maple Leafs add veteran goalie depth with the acquisition of Carter Hutton

Kyle Dubas has continued making moves — with the Arizona Coyotes, in particular — by acquiring veteran goaltender Carter Hutton in exchange for future considerations on Monday night.

Hutton just cleared waivers today and therefore can be sent straight to the AHL. According to Craig Morgan of GoPhnx.com, Hutton will be loaned to Tucson — the Coyotes’ AHL affiliate — so the Leafs can let their younger goalies developing in the system (Joseph Woll, Erik Kallgren) continue to share the crease along with Michael Hutchinson on the Marlies.

As Craig reports, plan is for Hutton to stay in Tucson for now although at some point I think the Leafs may decide to reassign him to the Marlies. Either way, the Leafs added experienced goalie depth at no cost. https://t.co/8bAbLPTZ5t

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) February 22, 2022

The trade is really as simple as this: Previously the most experienced next-man-up in case of an injury to Petr Mrazek or Jack Campbell, Hutchinson has the second most starts on the Marlies (11 games) and has posted an uninspiring .896 save percentage at the AHL level this season. Hutchinson also allowed six goals on 79 shots in his 1.5 NHL appearances during Petr Mrazek’s injury amid the Leafs’ slump in October.

Woll was injured on January 15 and hasn’t played since – he returned to practice last week, though — while Kallgren leads the team in starts with 22, putting up a respectable 13-6-1 record and a .909 save percentage. Both are probably better options than Hutchinson at this point if injury were to strike, but Woll is battling health issues again this season, and Kallgren is in his first professional season in North America.

Hutton hasn’t put up strong numbers since he was the backup to Jake Allen in St. Louis in 2017-18 (.931 save percentage in 32 games), but the 36-year-old has been around the block with 234 games of NHL experience spanning stops in Chicago, Nashville, St. Louis, Buffalo, and Arizona (career .908 save percentage).

In 2018, the Sabres signed Hutton with the idea he would challenge for the starting role. He signed a three-year contract worth $8.25 million total and started 48 games in his first season with Buffalo (posting a .908 save percentage). That was his last season even remotely approaching league-average goaltending.

Nonetheless, it’s sensible to add another goaltender with credible NHL experience to the depth chart essentially for free. Last season, the Leafs traded a mid-round pick for David Rittich, who played a forgettable four games for the Leafs. They don’t have picks to burn this season, so grabbing Hutton fills a need for netminding injury insurance at the cost of nothing.

Carter Hutton – Career Statistics