The Toronto Maple Leafs have made a trade.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have sent a fifth round pick in 2020 to the Florida Panthers in exchange for goalie Michael Hutchinson.
When I heard the Leafs made trade, I was hoping it was the long awaited acquisition of a defensman to partner with Norris hopeful Morgan Rielly.
Instead, they have gotten themselves a goalie for their AHL team.
Not exactly big news, but important nonetheless.
Most Likely Straight to the Marlies
Unless Frederick Andersen is out long-term, the most likely scenario here is that Hutchinson goes straight to the Marlies. And, if Andersen is injured, I would expect the Leafs to go after someone a bit better than Hutchinsen.
The Marlies have struggled to find a replacement for Garrett Sparks since he has been promoted to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Curtis MacElhinny and Calvin Pickard were lost on waivers this past fall.
The Leafs are hoping that Hutchinson can give them that stability, and perhaps even be an emergency replacement in case of injury to an NHL player.
For some bizarre reason unbeknownst to me, there is a lot of talk about Garrett Sparks not being good enough. Then again, the Leafs are in second place overall, have won five in a row and Mike Babcock has made it pretty clear that Jake Gardiner is an awesome player.
That doesn’t leave a lot to complain about, so some people have turned to complaining about the back-up goalie.
This despite the fact that Sparks is 6-1 and has a save percentage higher than the league average. But facts aren’t always important to the negative Nancy crowd. (Gardiner is a 50 point defenseman who improves the team in shot-attempts, shots, scoring chances and goals when he’s on the ice; and William Nylander has a possession rating closing in on 60%, just for instance).
Hutchinson will report to the Marlies and Sparks job is safe. The Leafs now have an emergency goalie and that’s about that.
MIchael Hutchinson
Hutchinson is 28 years-old. He is currently playing for Springfield in the AHL where he has a collection of stats that do not make you wonder why he isn’t in the NHL.
He has played for the Winnipeg Jets and the Panthers and is a veteran of over 100 NHL games. His record is 44-40 with a .906% and a 3.33 GAA.
So he is capable, but he’s not exactly who you want as your starter, or your back-up. Still, it’s important to at least have a third NHL goalie on your roster just in case, and a fifth round pick is more than a reasonable price to secure this.
As I learned as this article was being typed, Frederick Andersen is day-to-day with a groin injury and the Leafs have recalled Kasimir Kaskisuo on an emergency basis. Sparks will start again tonight.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have made a smart move, but let’s just hope we don’t ever have to see why they made it.
stats from hockeydb.com