The Buffalo Sabres have announced that goaltender Carter Hutton has suffered an injury and will miss time. This is not good as the team was already without Linus Ullmark and traded one of their deeper options to the Colorado Avalanche. The 35-year-old Hutton exited after stopping two shots in a recent game against the New York Rangers. Interim coach Don Granato said that Hutton has returned to Buffalo for further evaluation.
Sabres interim coach Don Granato says Carter Hutton traveled with the team to Pittsburgh but has since been sent to Buffalo for further evaluation.
Linus Ullmark will need a few days on ice with the team before a decision is made on him joining the lineup. #LetsGoBuffalo
— Jourdon LaBarber (@JourdonLaBarber) March 23, 2021
Sabres Carter Hutton Injured
It has been a rough year for the veteran goalie. Hutton’s numbers have plummeted to new career-lows playing behind a truly awful Sabres team. He has a .886 save percentage and 3.47 goals-against-average. Both of those figures are sixth-worst among all NHL goaltenders with at least 10 appearances in 2020-21. He obviously isn’t the worst goalie in the league, but there is nothing positive for the 35-year-old native of Thunder Bay, Ontario.
The San Jose Sharks originally signed Hutton as an undrafted free agent in 2010, but he didn’t debut until 2012-13 with the Chicago Blackhawks. The Nashville Predators then signed Hutton and received solid production from 2013-14 through 2015-16. The three seasons in Nashville represent one of the few good periods in Hutton’s career. He appeared in 66 games with a .910 save percentage and 2.55 goals-against. He also had two strong seasons with the St. Louis Blues before signing with Buffalo prior to 2018-19. Overall, the 6’1″ goaltender has appeared in 232 NHL games with a .909 save percentage and 2.71 goals-against. It’s been a perfectly fine career for someone who never had a pedigree via the draft.
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How Buffalo Replaces Hutton
It’s very scary in the net for the Sabres. Their current goaltending duo is currently Dustin Tokarski and Michael Houser per CapFriendly’s depth chart. It’s an uninspiring duo that has very little business appearing in an actual NHL game. There is a very real chance Buffalo calls up top goaltending prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen despite his .904 save percentage and 3.19 goals-against in AHL Rochester. The team already sold one player, but there will certainly be more as they try to stock their farm system with better players.
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