The Vegas Golden Knights have added a bit of extra defensive depth, signing Ben Hutton to a one-year contract worth $750K. Hutton had attended the very end of Anaheim Ducks training camp on a PTO, but to this point had not carried an NHL contract. He’ll now join the Golden Knights organization on the league-minimum contract.
Hutton, 28, was an interesting case this offseason in terms of his unrestricted free agency. Despite having 379 NHL games under his belt, including 38 last season between the Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs, it appeared as though he couldn’t find a job as he just signed his PTO on October 4. He was released from it nine days later and was suddenly an NHL veteran on the outside looking in.
A fifth-round pick of the Vancouver Canucks in 2012, Hutton basically skipped the AHL altogether, playing just four games for the Utica Comets at the end of the 2014-15 season after his college career came to an end. He was an NHL regular the following season and hasn’t suited up for a single minor league game since. He even signed a two-year extension with the Canucks in 2016 that carried a cap hit of $2.8M, pointing toward a long, successful career. While things haven’t gone as smoothly in the years since, he’s still a valuable depth option that was surprising to see unsigned.
At last season’s deadline, he was acquired by the Maple Leafs for a fifth-round pick, but he played just four games down the stretch in Toronto. It appears as though he’ll be staying with the Golden Knights in the NHL for the time being, as Daniil Miromanov and Kaedan Korczak have been reassigned to the AHL.
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