The Buffalo Sabres and Carter Hutton play ‘Let’s Make a Deal’
The Buffalo Sabres will open a goaltending competition with the signing of Carter Hutton.
Even though most Buffalo Sabres fans have been waiting for the arrival of goaltending prospect Linus Ullmark for several years now, general manager Jason Botterill will continue to take his development slowly. The addition of Carter Hutton will open the door for a competition in training camp for the number one spot. Ullmark is coming off a stellar regular season in the AHL where he picked up 21 wins in 44 games. He was also nominated an AHL All-Star. Hutton is coming from a strong season for the St. Louis Blues where he posted a .931 save percentage and 2.09 goals against average. This will be Hutton’s first opportunity in his career to take a true number one spot.
Hutton’s career started as brief as possible in Chicago. He played just one game before jumping to Nashville the next season. In Nashville, he served as the backup for three seasons and was strong. He made himself into one of the top backup goalies in the NHL. He then joined the St. Louis Blues at the age of 31 for two more seasons. His 2017-2018 season was his career best and earned him the contract he signed with Buffalo.
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There were four goalies that saw action for the Buffalo Sabres last season. Out of those four goalies, the combined number of shutouts was three. They all came from Robin Lehner. Carter Hutton had around half of the appearances of Robin Lehner and had three shutouts. The signing will also be helpful for Ullmark, he will get to learn from a seasoned veteran who has been around the league. Goaltending was a big need for the Buffalo Sabres to address coming into the offseason.
Carter Hutton 3 year deal to come in at $2.75 AAV with #Sabres. Left more money the table elsewhere
— Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) July 1, 2018
The addition of Carter Hutton and with the price they paid Jason Botterill could not have done better. When early rumors of Hutton to Buffalo started to come out it the salary would be around the $4,000,000 range. This $2,750,000 price is better, any money saved in any contract negotiation is a win.