Carter Hutton

[z420-81]

Does anyone think Buffalo can have a good season where Hutton can put up a bunch of wins for them or? Or even if Buffalo doesn't have a good season, my guess is Hutton is going to play a ton of games, since Buffalo also has the fewest back to backs, so is Hutton capable of getting 30-35 wins?

[FantasyKing]

I'm guessing split starts with Ullmark until it becomes clear who the #1 is or they just ride whoever is hot.

[pmorrow]

Would be a huge performance if Hutton got 30+ wins. I think he is going to play 47-53 range of starts and maybe get 25 wins at best. I think he will likely be low 20s. Ullmark will force his way into 25+ starts.

[Axeman33]

I don't think it's unrealistic to see Buffalo have a decent year. Hutton was brought in to win them some games but also to force Ullmark to challenge for more playing time. I think the gig is Hutton's to lose. I don't want to get too optimistic because this is still Buffalo we are talking about here, but 25 wins might not be out of the question for Hutton if all goes well.

[Zorro]

How much does Hutton remind you guys of Darling??

I'm just not sure what to think..

[RizzeeDizzee]

I think Hutton fares better than Darling, but does not run with the gig and become a 30 win guy.

[als_revenge]

I agree that 25 wins is more realistic given where Buffalo is; heck, the guy has only started 27 games on average over the last 5 years. It is possible that Ullmark isn't ready and Buffalo really leans on Hutton. But I think Buffalo will continue to struggle. Getting rid of Kane, ROR and Lehner are the first step in a culture change in Buffalo. I think it will take another year or two to start seeing results (hopefully).

[stevegamer]

I think Hutton is an upgrade on Lehner in certain ways, and a downgrade in others.

Improvements:
- He doesn't seem to be bat-#### crazy, like Lehner.
- He seems to be generally healthy, or at least less fragile than the goalies he's backed up, which is another area of improvement.

Worries:
- He's never been a team's planned #1 goalie, but has been able to carry a decent load in both Nashville & St Louis, at times.
- His one big year was in St. Louis, and he was spotty in Nashville.
- I don't think he's shown as much talent as Lehner, and hasn't had to play on a bad team.

Lehner might still be in Buffalo if he had another year like his first two where he was above-average to good, but he stank. I think I'd expect a roughly average performance from Hutton, which would be an upgrade on what Lehner did last year. I do think he's there basically be the obstacle for the young guy, and to be a more sane/stable mentor type.

[woodrow]

I wouldn't touch Hutton with a 10-foot pole. He's only had one really good season in the NHL. His last season in Nashville was better than average and so was his first season in St. Louis, but that's it. Placing your goaltending on a 32-year old that's mostly been a backup on two very good teams is a recipe for disaster. Going from two pretty good teams to Buffalo will expose Hutton for the average goalie he really is. Ullmark is mostly unproven, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's Buffalo's #1 goalie by the year's end.

[Dave Muir]

I gamble on Darling last year and still regret it...

haha, no joke, Goalies are very hard to predict but I don't trust too much Hutton since Buffalo is not as good defensively than St-Louis. And I remember that Hutton was not that good at the end of the season, so...if you can pick him without hurting your squad, take the gamble but keep in mind

[ericdaoust]

Hutton has always split games at the NHL level and I expect this to continue. The fact he is in Buffalo and is likely splitting starts means he is unlikely to get a lot of wins.

[mounD]

He’s a stopgap / mentor for Ullmark, and I feel like that’s pretty well established. Just a question of when Ullmark starts seeing a majority of the starts.

[agentzero]

They wany Ullmark to be the starter but are paying Hutton the money to make Ullmark earn it, and earn it hard. Things can change so easily. Look at what happened in WPG. Obviously not the same calibre of players, but WPG happily found an exit for Mason after Hellebuyck clearly ran with the show.. ant that took all of a few games. I'm not ready to call this anything but literally a coin flip. Best case is get both goalies.

[BladesOfSteel]

He's worth a shot as a later round pick, but ideally as a 3rd option for now. If Buffalo hits on all cylinders this year, I could see him having an impact fantasy wise, but BUF may still be one year away.

[forsbergfan]

The main difference between Hutton and darling is darling was brought in to eventually be the starting goalie, while Hutton is being brought in to be a 1B at best. The sabres goalie of the future is ullmark, and they feel he is very close. Hutton is there to ease the transition. They don't expect him to be their starter long term.