Sabres get their No. 1 goalie

The NHL Free Agency period opened Sunday at noon, but teams were already talking with players and their agents over the past several days, trying to work out verbal deals in order to secure them this weekend.

That’s what Buffalo did with goaltender Carter Hutton, and they made the deal official by signing him to a three-year deal this morning. 

He’ll be the No. 1 starter and Linus Ullmark will serve as the backup. 

Listed at 6’1″, 202 lbs., Hutton is 32 years old and coming off his best season yet. In 32 games with the St. Louis Blues, he went 17-7-3 with a 2.09 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. His numbers were down, but still solid, in the couple of years prior to that.

Season	Team	GP	W	L	O	SV %	GAA	SO
2012-13	CHI	1	0	1	0	.893	3.06	0
2013-14	NSH	40	20	11	4	.910	2.62	1
2014-15	NSH	18	6	7	4	.902	2.61	1
2015-16	NSH	17	7	5	4	.918	2.33	2
2016-17	STL	30	13	8	2	.913	2.39	4
2017-18	STL	32	17	7	3	.931	2.09	3
Career	NHL	138	63	39	17	.915	2.42	11

With 138 NHL games as experience, Hutton has never been a No. 1 starter, but he’ll have that chance in Buffalo. Jason Botterill already stated that Linus Ullmark will be the No. 2 guy.

Gareth Morse, a St. Louis Blues hockey writer from Respect the Note and The Runner Sports commented on the add saying that this was a steal for Buffalo:
“It was a career year for Hutton certainly, but from what I saw and felt, he was a goalie waiting to break out. Im sure he can handle a No. 1 workload with BUF. Sorry to see him go. Pressure on Allen now if there wasn’t already.”

The Sabres are definitely banking on the fact that Hutton can post strong number over the course of 55-60 games.

This looks to be a strong deal for Buffalo and a great opportunity for Hutton. The Sabres finally have a goaltender.