St. Louis Blues Sign Carter Hutton to Two-Year Deal
After trading Brian Elliott last week, the St. Louis Blues quickly found a new backup for Jake Allen.
For as many years as the Blues have relied on goalie tandems featuring guys like Jaroslav Halak, Brian Elliott, and Jake Allen, it’s been a long while since they’ve had to find a traditional backup goaltender. The Blues haven’t really signed a free agent with the intention of him filling that type of role since they brought Elliott in on a two-way deal in 2011, but he quickly developed into a netminder talented enough to handle a starter’s workload.
Thus, you’d have to look all the way back to Ty Conklin, who was given a nearly-identical offer seven years ago today, to find the last Blues netminder who filled the same type of role that new addition Carter Hutton is expected to occupy. Hutton, who was signed to a two-year deal on Friday, has made a living of spelling Nashville Predators starter Pekka Rinne on a very infrequent basis over the past three seasons, and he’s expected to do more of the same behind Allen in St. Louis.
The 30-year-old goalie was somewhat of an AHL journeyman in the San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks systems before finally getting an opportunity to back up Rinne in Nashville during the 2013-14 season.
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After playing 40 games as Rinne dealt with an injury that season, Hutton has played 18 and 17 games, respectively, over the past two seasons.
Despite his infrequent use, Hutton has been solid when cast into action. In 76 career games, he’s 33-24-12 with a .910 save percentage, 2.56 goals-against average, and four shutouts. Unlike Elliott, who seemed to slump a bit when relegated to the bench as Allen was on a hot streak in 2015-16, but thrived when given regular opportunities, Hutton is a guy who has shown an ability to stay cool, calm, and collected when his work is spread out, and that could be a major advantage if the Blues use Allen as much as some expect them to next season.
Next: Blues Give Jake Allen Four-Year Extension
Hutton’s deal will carry an average annual value of $1.125 million, via Elliotte Friedman.