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Carter Hutton

List Of Potential Destinations For Carter Hutton Cut To Six

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Among this year’s free agent goaltending crop, Carter Hutton stands out as a name that could potentially take over a starting role. The 32-year old is coming off an incredible season with the St. Louis Blues, and had been reportedly in talks with as many as eight teams on the first day of the free agent negotiating period. Now, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) reports that group is down to just six teams.

LeBrun adds that even those six are broken into two tiers, depending on whether or not they’ll give Hutton a chance to fight for the starting role. The teams he’s sure of are the Chicago Blackhawks, Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders. All four are unsurprising contenders, as they all are dealing with uncertain goaltending situations as they head into next season. Craig Custance of The Athletic (subscription required) also links the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings to Hutton, and adds that the Blues expressed interest in retaining him at the end of the year.

Hutton registered a .931 save percentage this season in 32 appearances, and continued to show why he’s considered one of the best backups in the league. His career save percentage is now up to .915, and he carries a 63-39-17 record. It’s hard to imagine a team giving him a big money, long-term contract, but it’s clear that he deserves more than the $1.125MM he’s averaged over the last two seasons.

In Buffalo, Carolina and New York he’d likely be given a chance to be a starting goaltender, as Linus Ullmark, Scott Darling and Thomas Greiss haven’t yet proven they can handle the full load. In Chicago, where Corey Crawford’s health is still up in the air, they need to find an option they can rely on. Any interest from Boston and Detroit would likely be as a backup for Tuukka Rask or Jimmy Howard, though each have shown some inconsistency in the past. Howard is also on the final year of his current contract, meaning Detroit will need someone to step in should he head to another team next summer.

Carter Hutton Has Received Interest From Eight Teams

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With goaltending at a premium this season as several teams are still in need of starting help, St. Louis Blues unrestricted free agent Carter Hutton has received quite a bit of interest. In fact, he has received close to 10 teams checked in on the 32-year-old netminder, according to Fox Sports’ Andy Strickland. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun adds that Hutton has heard from eight teams and will take the next few days to cut that list down and expand contract discussions.

The Athletic’s Craig Custance writes that the Detroit Red Wings, Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins are definitely interested. NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti adds that the Islanders would be a good fit as new head coach Barry Trotz knows him well from their days in Nashville. Even NHL.com’s Joe Yerdon suggested that the Buffalo Sabres could be interested in the former UMass-Lowell goalie. Hutton is the top free agent goaltender on the market. The veteran has been an excellent back-up goalie over the past several years and played the most minutes since the 2013-14 season. He posted a 2.09 GAA and a .931 save percentage in 32 appearances.

While the Blues would undoubtedly like to bring Hutton back with the inconsistencies that starter Jake Allen has had over the past two years, the team is not likely to offer the term that Hutton and his representatives would be asking for. Custance adds the team is unlikely willing to offer more than two years. Strickland said that he is likely looking for a three-year deal, possibly a similar deal to the three-year, $10MM deal that Philipp Grubauer inked Saturday with the Colorado Avalanche. The Blues have top goaltending prospect Ville Husso, their goaltender of the future. Husso, who has already played two full seasons in the AHL, is no more than one year away, so signing Hutton to a three-year deal would affect Husso’s development. Allen has three more years remaining on his deal at $4.35MM AAV and would be difficult to move on from at this point in time.

NHL.com’s Lou Korac reports that St. Louis general manager Doug Armstrong said they have talked to Hutton, but are fully aware and have a plan in place if Hutton opts to leave the Blues.

Atlantic Notes: Red Wings, Green, Sabres, Canadiens, Miller

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On top of being one of the teams that have shown interest in signing free agent winger Ilya Kovalchuk, the Red Wings also are interested in signing winger Thomas Vanek this summer, reports MLive’s Ansar Khan.  Vanek spent most of the 2016-17 season with Detroit and fared quite well, recording 15 goals and 23 assists in 48 games before being shipped as a rental to Florida at the trade deadline.  Vanek’s nomadic journey continued this past season and he could once again be in line for a one-year deal in free agency.

Khan adds that the Red Wings has their eyes set on a pair of goalies that are soon set to hit the open market in Carter Hutton (St. Louis) and Anton Khudobin (Boston).  Both netminders have shown that they are capable of handling more than the typical workload for a backup goalie which will come in handy given incumbent Jimmy Howard’s up-and-down performance over the last few years.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • In the same column, Khan provides the details for the contract offers that Detroit has on the table for pending UFA defenseman Mike Green. The Red Wings have pitched a one-year, $6MM offer which matches what he made in each of the past three years as well as a two-year, $10MM proposal.  Green is slated to be one of the more prominent defenders on the open market this summer and is expected to be fully recovered from the cervical spine surgery he had back in April.
  • Although there have been reports that the Sabres were expected to buy out winger Matt Moulson, Sabres GM Jason Botterill told Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News that the team does not have any interest in buying anyone out at the moment. Moulson has one year remaining on his contract with a $5MM cap hit and spent most of 2017-18 in the minors on loan to the Kings’ AHL affiliate in Ontario.  While a buyout would save Buffalo some cap room this season compared to putting him in the minors, it would also create a cap charge of nearly $667K on their books for 2019-20.  The Sabres have a lot of cap room at the moment so they may feel that they’re better off absorbing the higher cost for 2018-19 to get him off the books entirely instead of taking on the extra hit the following year.
  • Speaking with reporters to discuss Friday’s trade, Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin stated (via Arpon Basu of The Athletic on Twitter) that they currently have no plans to buy anyone out. Montreal had several veterans that underachieved in 2017-18 but most are signed for at least the next two years which would make a buyout somewhat prohibitive long-term.
  • Tampa Bay has yet to begin contract talks with pending RFA forward J.T. Miller, reports Joe Smith of The Athletic (Twitter link). Instead, it appears that discussions between the two sides will pick up at the draft.  The 25-year-old has wrapped up his bridge contract, is coming off of a career season offensively, and has arbitration rights which put him in line for a sizable raise from the Lightning on the $2.75MM he made in each of the last two years.

Central Notes: Hutton, Brodziak, Blackhawks

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While the Blues have held contract talks with pending UFA goaltender Carter Hutton, GM Doug Armstrong told Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the two sides are not close to an agreement and that the netminder is intent on seeing what options are available to him on the open market.  Hutton was the league leader in save percentage (.931) and goals against average (2.09) among qualifying goaltenders and has positioned himself to have a lot of suitors in free agency.  Armstrong acknowledged that neither side has ruled out Hutton returning once he gets a sense of what other teams are offering.

More from the Central:

  • Also from Gordon’s piece, the Blues have also been in contract talks with pending UFA center Kyle Brodziak. The 34-year-old is coming off of his best season points-wise since 2010-11 after he posted 10 goals and 23 assists in 81 games while also winning a career-best 52.1% of his faceoffs.  That type of production may garner some interest in him as a third-liner which would have him well-positioned for a nice raise on the $900K salary ($950K cap hit) he had this past season.
  • The Blackhawks would like to move the 27th overall selection in next week’s draft for a player that can come in and help the team now, reports Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times. The pick was originally acquired back at the trade deadline from Nashville in exchange for winger Ryan Hartman.  Although Chicago missed the playoffs, they are still in win-now mode with several big contracts on the books so going for a rebuild doesn’t seem likely at this point.  If they do keep the pick, Lazerus notes that the team likes Drummondville defenseman Nicolas Beaudin who is currently pegged as a late first or early second-round selection.

Free Agent Focus: Colorado Avalanche

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Free agency is now a little less than a month away from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  Here is a breakdown of Colorado’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: F Matthew Nieto — The 25-year-old, who was picked up off of waivers from the San Jose Sharks has found a home in Colorado after the team rewarded him a year ago with a $1MM contract as a restricted free agent, posting a career high in goals with 15 and forcing his way to some second-line action. Primarily used as a fourth-line defensive option, Nieto has started to show his potential.

One key to Nieto’s success has been getting regular playing time. After playing in a career-low 59 games between two teams last year, he got into 74 games and averaged almost 15 minutes a game. Now with his game improving and the potential to earn a second or third-line role with the team next year, Nieto looks to get a raise from his deal a year ago.

D Patrik Nemeth — After years of not being able to find a full-time role with the Dallas Stars, Nemeth, like Nieto, seems to have found a home with the Avalanche. The 26-year-old blueliner was claimed off waivers at the beginning of the season and immediately made an impact on the Avalanche’s defense. Often teamed with Tyson Barrie on the first line, Nemeth has developed into a solid shutdown defender, although he doesn’t provide much offense (3 goals, 15 points in 68 games). After signing at $945K last season, Nemeth should get himself a significant raise as well.

Other RFA’s: D Mason Geersten, F Felix Girard, D Jesse Graham, D Ryan Graves, G Spencer Martin, F Reid Petryk, D Duncan Siemens, F Nail Yakupov.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: G Jonathan Bernier — The Avalanche goaltending combination of Semyon Varlamov and Bernier was just OK, but the combination was good enough to vault the team to the playoff for the first time in years. Bernier, who finished the season with a 19-13-3 record with a 2.85 GAA and a .913 save percentage in 37 starts, had moments where he dazzled, including a stretch of nine consecutive wins between Dec. 31 and Jan. 22. Due to a Varlamov injury, Bernier was forced to start in all playoff games and struggled against a good Nashville team, allowing 14 goals in four games as well as being pulled once.

The team must decide whether Bernier is the answer to their goaltending problems as the team needs a backup who can fill in long-term for the injury-prone Varlamov. The team could opt to look at a Carter Hutton, but that might cost the team too much, while the team’s top goaltending prospects are still a year or two away, although the team could turn to streaky UFA Andrew Hammond, who performed well in the playoffs against Nashville in three appearances.

F Blake Comeau — The 32-year-old veteran continues to produce in a bottom-line role for the Avalanche and after another solid season which puts him at 13 goals and 34 points, Comeau is another key veteran who provides a young Colorado team with that leadership the team needs. He has had quite an effect on players like Nieto and J.T. Compher and after finishing up a three-year, $7.2MM deal at $2.4MM AAV, he may want a similar deal to finish out his career.

Other UFA’s: G Joe Cannata, F Joe Colborne, F Rocco Grimaldi, G Andrew Hammond, F Trent Vogelhuber.

Projected Cap Space: With more than $22MM in cap space to work with, depending where the upper limit lands. That should give the team the possibility of going after a free agent or two, but with the team still developing its team through youth, Colorado hasn’t been a major talking point, yet anyway, for unrestricted free agents. However, the idea of the team going after James van Riemsdyk and placing him next to Nathan MacKinnon wouldn’t be a bad look either.

Regardless, the team also must use some of that cap space toward possible extension as the team may want to lock up promising star Mikko Rantanen as soon as possible, which he can do on July 1.

Free Agent Focus: St. Louis Blues

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Free agency is now a little less than a month away from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  Here is a breakdown of St. Louis’ free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: F Robby Fabbri – Things haven’t gone smoothly for Fabbri over the past few years, as he’s faced multiple injuries that have robbed him of all but 51 games since the end of the 2015-16 season. After scoring 18 goals and 37 points as a rookie, and starting his sophomore season on an even better pace, the Blues had big plans for their 2014 first-round pick.

Now, after two straight major knee surgeries and more than a year away from NHL action, it’s not clear where he sits in their future. It was obvious that if he was healthy he could help the team offensively, but negotiations this summer are not leaning in his favor. A short-term deal seems likely for a player that is both an injury risk and hopes to prove himself again in 2018-19.

D Joel Edmundson – The 2011 second-round pick has turned into quite the player for the Blues, and found himself logging more than 20 minutes a night this season while they dealt with injuries to Jay Bouwmeester and inconsistent play from Carl Gunnarsson and Robert Bortuzzo. The Blues have young Vince Dunn expected to make an even bigger contribution next season, but Edmundson could take another step forward as he enters his mid-twenties.

The 24-year old defenseman is coming off a two-year $2.1MM contract, and should earn more than that in just a single year on his next deal. If St. Louis believes he can be a core piece of their blue line for the coming years, there could be a long-term deal in order. He’ll turn 25 before July 1st, meaning a two-year contract takes him to unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2020.

Other RFAs: F Dmitrij Jaskin, F Oskar Sundqvist, F Nikita Soshnikov, D Jordan Schmaltz, F Justin Selman, F Beau Bennett, F Mackenzie MacEachern, D Thomas Vannelli, G Jordan Binnington, D Petteri Lindbohm

Key Unrestricted Free Agent: G Carter Hutton – The Blues moved out their most intriguing free agent at the deadline when they traded Paul Stastny to Winnipeg, but Hutton could prove to have an even bigger market. The 32-year old goaltender led the league with a .931 save percentage this season among netminders with at least 20 starts, and could be looking for an opportunity to play an even bigger role with a team.

Jake Allen didn’t do much this season to prove that he can handle a full-time starter workload, meaning the Blues will likely make every effort to re-sign Hutton this summer. For a player who has never earned more than $1.13MM in a single season though, you can bet he’s intrigued by the opportunity free agency presents.

Other UFAs: F Scottie Upshall, F Kyle Brodziak, F Wade Megan

Projected Cap Space: The Blues, like many teams this summer have plenty of room to work with under the cap. With Stastny and others coming off the books they’ll have somewhere around $18MM in cap space depending on where the upper limit lands and could be big players in the market.

The team has recently admitted that they’re on the lookout for an upgrade at center, and many have speculated that they could enter the John Tavares sweepstakes should the superstar center reach unrestricted free agency. With plenty of young talent coming through the system on cheap contracts, landing a big fish like Tavares is a reasonable target for GM Doug Armstrong to aim at—whether he’ll get there is a different story.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

West Notes: Allen, Nurse, Coyotes

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Even though the free agent goalie market is rather thin, Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggests that the Blues should not try to use that to their advantage and look to move Jake Allen this summer.  Allen struggled this past season, putting up the worst numbers of his career while Carter Hutton, a pending unrestricted free agent, thrived; his numbers were the best in the league.  Even though Allen has a decent track record as a starter, St. Louis would be selling low if they were to move him now.  Instead, it wouldn’t be surprising if they simply look to re-sign Hutton and run with the same tandem they’ve had for the past two years.  However, they will have some competition for his services as Hutton should garner a lot of interest around the league if he makes it to the open market.

Elsewhere around the West:

  • The Oilers will have a tough call to make when it comes to defenseman Darnell Nurse, opines Postmedia’s Jim Matheson. Has he shown enough to land a long-term contract that could hover around the $5MM per season range or are they better off with a bridge deal instead?  Edmonton’s salary cap situation may help dictate their path as well as if they have eyes on adding established talent to their roster, they may have to go the shorter route with the 23-year-old.  That would allow them to sign him for less now but they would pay for it down the road as his next contract would mostly cover UFA-eligible seasons.
  • The Coyotes are on the lookout for a new head coach at the AHL level following the departure of Mike Van Ryn to St. Louis earlier this week. Arizona Sports’ Craig Morgan reports that assistants John Slaney and Steve Potvin will be candidates for the role although AHL GM Steve Sullivan stated that a short list of coaches outside of the organization will also be considered.

Atlantic Notes: Boston’s Injuries, Lamoriello, Red Wings

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As is common following a team being eliminated from the playoffs, the list of players that played through an injury gets revealed.  Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports Boston provided that list for the Bruins and it’s quite a lengthy one.  Most notably among them is center Patrice Bergeron, who revealed that he has been dealing with a lingering groin issue and while he hopes it will clear itself up with rest and rehab, he did acknowledge that surgery this summer is a possibility.

Other players that could be headed under the knife are defenseman Zdeno Chara (shoulder) and center Riley Nash (hip) while winger Noel Acciari (hernia) confirmed he will have surgery.  Meanwhile, defenseman Torey Krug’s fractured ankle will have him in a walking boot for the next two months so his postseason would have been over even if the Bruins had advanced.  On top of those, David Backes (concussion), Brad Marchand (groin), and Jake DeBrusk (shoulder) have injuries that won’t require any offseason surgeries.  It’s quite the list of walking wounded in Boston.

More from around the Atlantic:

  • While now-former Maple Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello publicly stated that he intended to fulfill the advisory role in his contract, Arthur Staple of The Athletic reports (subscription required) that he has no real intention of doing so. This comes on the heels of speculation earlier this week that the Islanders could be a landing spot for the 75-year-old, something that Staple suggests is a possibility as well.  If that indeed happens, Toronto will not be entitled to any compensation as that was put to an end back in January of 2016.
  • The Red Wings have a vacancy to fill between the pipes this summer and Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reports that Blues netminder Carter Hutton is someone that they have interest in. Hutton is coming off of a career season that saw him post a 2.09 GAA and a .931 SV% in 32 appearances and is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.  However, he’ll undoubtedly be seeking a significant raise on the two-year, $2.25MM deal he just completed and Detroit is a team that is typically close to the Upper Limit of the salary cap so it will be interesting to see if there is a number that would work for both sides.

Snapshots: Stars Goaltending, Guentzel, Kane, Shalunov

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Armed with a new head coach, the Dallas Stars can begin to get to work to fixing their team after the team failed to qualify for the playoffs despite a flurry of offseason moves last year. While, the team has many issues to deal with, one key area of need is finding a quality back-up goaltender.

The team is finally released from a five-year, $29.5MM deal it gave to eventual backup Kari Lehtonen. However, the $5.9MM AAV for a player who produced a 2.56 GAA and a .912 wasn’t worth it. On top of that, at age 34, the team needs a backup that can take over the workload for oft-injured starter Ben Bishop.

SportsDay’s Mike Heika writes there are several potential options for Dallas, but the best-case scenario would be for the Stars to chase Carter Hutton, who backed up Jake Allen last year. Hutton, who could easily fill in full-time in case Bishop gets hurt, could also be expensive as the 32-year-old veteran may hope to land a starting job somewhere. He was 17-7-3 last year with a 2.09 GAA in 32 games this past year in St. Louis. Other options would consist of Jonathan Bernier, Andrew Hammond, Michael Hutchinson and Anton Khudobin.

  • While it may not come as a surprise, the Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan reports that the NHL Department of Player Safety does not intend to have a hearing with Pittsburgh Penguins Jake Guentzel, who hit John Carlson during Saturday’s game against the Washington Capitals. Despite complaints from Capitals head coach Barry Trotz, Khurshudyan the league felt it was a full-body hit.
  • With the season on the line, The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz (subscription required) writes that while San Jose Sharks’ trade deadline acquisition Evander Kane has been highly successful since coming over from Buffalo, that hasn’t been the case during the team’s second-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights. Kane has scored just one point in the series and the team will need them to pull off a two-game sweep to advance to the conference finals. Kurz wonders whether Kane’s health has been an issue as he has skipped the morning skate for both of the team’s last two games.
  • Chicago Blackhawks prospect Maxim Shalunov has been improving steadily in the KHL and the 2011 fourth-round prospect is looking more interesting, but The Athletic’s Scott Powers (subscription required) writes that the 25-year-old is still two years away from reaching Chicago after he signed a three-year extension to remain in the KHL last offseason. As Shalunov has developed in Russia, he’s also received more attention recently from the Russian national team and while he didn’t get the invitation to the Olympics that he was hoping for, he did get the invite to play in the World Championships.

Offseason Keys: New York Islanders

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While the playoffs are ongoing, many teams have already started their offseason planning.  What storylines lie ahead around the league?  Our Offseason Keys series continues with a look at the New York Islanders.

While the season for the Islanders started on a high note, especially on offense, the New York Islanders came back to earth in the second half as the Islanders limped to the finish line knowing they had no chance to compete for a playoff spot. Injuries to the defense as well as goaltending troubles haunted them for much of the year.

Sign John Tavares

Perhaps when the team was winning early on and the offense was one of the best in the NHL or when the team won their bid on the Belmont properties and started plans to build a new stadium there, the Islanders might have felt confident about re-signing star center John Tavares. However, after one stretch in which the team won just 17 of 55 games, the star may be ready to move on to a team that has a better shot at being making the playoffs on a more continuous basis.

Regardless, the Islanders didn’t even consider the idea of trading Tavares at the trade deadline to a point that there were few to no rumors flying around at that time. Do they have an idea that he has always intended to sign? Or is the team just hoping he will return to the franchise?

While most experts are starting to believe that Tavares is likely to move on, it also wouldn’t be that surprising if he opted to sign a long-term, maximum deal and stay on Long Island for the rest of his career. Regardless of his decision, the Islanders will either move forward with him or without him, then placing Mathew Barzal at the forefront of the franchise.

Upgrade their defense

The Islanders had few positives when it came to their defense. Looking like geniuses when they traded veteran Travis Hamonic to the Calgary Flames for a boatload of draft picks, the Islanders defense then faltered when Johnny Boychuk and Calvin de Haan went down with injuries for large chunks of the season. Instead, the Islanders found themselves with few top-four defensemen for much of the season and struggled giving up goals.

While some of the goaltending play can be blamed as well, the defense is what struggled and with a number of their blueliners hitting unrestricted free agency, including de Haan and Thomas Hickey, the team has a few decisions to make as well as have to figure out how to upgrade it. Boychuk, when healthy is a solid top-four defender, but at age 34 and four years remaining on his contract at $6MM AAV, how much can they count on him? The team needs to either move some of its picks in trades for top veterans or sign some key free agents to fill some of those gaps.

Find their goaltender

While the Islanders are finally free of starting goaltender Jaroslav Halak’s long deal and are unlikely to bring him back, the next question is where do they go to find a new starting goaltender. While they do have two talented prospects in Ilya Sorokin and Linus Soderstrom, neither is an answer for this upcoming season. Sorokin has already said he doesn’t intend to sign with the Islanders under entry-level contract conditions, while Soderstrom is coming off season-ending surgery at the beginning of 2018. Neither would likely have been ready to jump into the NHL anyway.

That will force the team to either trade for a goalie, such as Washington’s Philipp Grubauer, or more likely find a stopgap solution on the free agent market, although the free agent goalie market is quite weak this offseason. Players such as Carter Hutton or Robin Lehner aren’t sure things. The team had some success with AHL goalie Christopher Gibson, but he eventually struggled as well. The team does still have Thomas Greiss under contract for two more years, but that isn’t a better option.

 

 

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