Michael Hutchinson retires from NHL after 15-year pro career

The Barrie, Ontario native last played professional hockey in the 2024-25 season, when he appeared in 24 games for SaiPa Lappeenranta of the Liiga, Finland’s top hockey league, and posted a .886 save percentage and a 3.02 goals-against average. His last NHL action came in 2023-24, when he started one game for the Detroit Red Wings.

Hutchinson, 36, was initially a third-round pick of the Boston Bruins in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. After completing a four-year junior career in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), he spent his first three professional seasons splitting time between the American Hockey League (AHL) and ECHL within Boston’s organization.

In July of 2013, he signed as a free agent in Winnipeg, where he would go on to have his greatest NHL success. He spent most of the 2013-14 season with the Jets’ minor-league affiliates, starting just three NHL games that year. He broke out with his career-best campaign in his official rookie season of 2014-15, sporting a 21-10-5 record in 36 starts with a .914 SV% and a 2.38 GAA as Ondrej Pavelec’s backup. He even finished eighth in Calder Trophy voting that season.

Hutchinson spent three more years in the Jets’ organization before signing with the Florida Panthers ahead of the 2018-19 season. He went on to play for a total of six NHL teams, including the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets, along with the Jets, Panthers, and Red Wings. He also briefly spent time in the Vegas Golden Knights‘ organization.

Over 127 starts and 154 appearances in his NHL career, Hutchinson went 57-62-18 with a .902 SV% and a 2.94 GAA.

Internationally, he represented Canada at the 2022-23 Spengler Cup, where he went 0-2-0 with a .896 SV% and a 2.56 GAA.