The Toronto Maple Leafs have made a trade.
According to a breaking news report from the Toronto Maple Leafs organization the team has pulled the trigger on a transaction that will bring them a brand new back up goaltender. The Leafs are reporting that they have acquired veteran goaltender Michael Hutchinson from the Florida Panthers in exchange for a 5th round draft selection.
Hutchinson, a former 3rd round draft choice (77th overall) of the Boston Bruins at the 2008 National Hockey League Entry Draft, has really unperformed during his time in Florida and there's little doubt in my mind that the Panthers were very happy to facilitate this trade for the Maple Leafs. Through his 4 games as a Florida Panther this season Hutchinson has recorded an abysmal 4.17 goals against average and boasts a pretty bad .839 save percentage over that stretch. Now to be fair this is a very small sample size but it also speaks to why Hutchinson has only been given 4 games at the NHL level in spite of some of the issues the Panthers' have had in goal.
If you're wondering why the Maple Leafs would looked to acquire the 28 year old netminder in this trade your questions are perfectly reasonable. The reality of the situation is that earlier today it was revealed that Maple Leafs star goaltender Frederik Andersen is currently dealing with a groin injury and is expected to continue to miss time as a result of that injury. Andersen has not played since the 22nd of December and although the Leafs played it off like he was merely getting extra rest, this move may be an indication that Andersen will be out for some time still.
In spite of his struggles this season Hutchinson has shown himself to be an average level back up goaltender in the past during his tenure as a member of the Winnipeg Jets and the Maple Leafs will be hoping that he can provide them with some of that. Leafs goalie Garret Sparks has looked solid since taking over the net for the Leafs and he will likely continue to shoulder the majority of the burden in Andersen's absence.
The Leafs 5th round pick is in the 2020 draft so it will be a long time before the Panthers see a return for this deal.
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