The Toronto Maple Leafs and Arizona Coyotes have made another trade, although this one not as significant as Saturday.
The Maple Leafs acquired goaltender Carter Hutton in exchange for future considerations.
Clearly, there was no real cost for the Maple Leafs, who now have extra insurance in net behind Jack Campbell, Petr Mrazek and Michael Hutchinson. Arizona was looking to move a standard player contract off of their roster, and found a fit with the Leafs. The only expense for Toronto will be $255,000 in cash to pay Hutton’s salary.
The trade came after Hutton cleared waivers on Monday, allowing the Leafs to send him to the AHL without having to go through waivers again – something that has some importance considering they lost two players to waivers in the last week alone in Adam Brooks (Winnipeg) and Ryan Dzingel (San Jose).
Hutton will not be joining the Marlies. Instead, according to Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports, the Leafs will loan Hutton to the AHL Tucson Roadrunners, where he’ll work his way back from a rough season. That way, he’ll be able to remain with his family in the Arizona area.
Hutton, 36, has struggled this season. In just three games with 115 minutes played, Hutton has a .741 save percentage and allowed 15 goals before dealing with injuries. He was once a solid backup goalie for the Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues, but has seen his play fall off since becoming the starter for the Buffalo Sabres in 2018-19.
Keeping Hutton in Tucson will prevent an already crowded crease with the Marlies from getting even more crowded, with Hutchinson, Joseph Woll, Ian Scott, and Erik Kallgren all on the roster.
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