Breaking: Leafs shock everyone and recall Hutchinson

The Maple Leafs surprised everyone on Friday morning when they made the announced that the team had recalled goaltender Michael Hutchinson from the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies. 

There was no further information in the team’s press release regarding the status of back-up goalie Garret Sparks, who acted as the Leafs’ second goaltender on Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

Some people are wondering if Hutchinson is coming in to challenge Sparks as the expected backup goalie for Frederik Andersen during the first round of the postseason against the Boston Bruins. 

Hutchinson was acquired by the Leafs from the Florida Panthers last December in return for a fifth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. He played in five games for Toronto right after, as both Andersen and Sparks were sidelined with injuries. 

After posting a 2-3-0 record with a .914 save percentage, Hutchinson was sent down to the Marlies, where he’s gone 14-4-1 with a .914 save percentage since.

Andersen is expected to be used as the starting netminder for the Leafs' final game of the season against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday. Sparks played his last game of the regular season on Tuesday as Toronto fell 4-1 at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes. The backup goalie would have preferred to end the year on a positive note and we can tell why now with this surprising recall... 

But when you think about it, the recall makes sense: the second half of Sparks’ first full NHL season hasn't been all that great. Since Dec. 28, Sparks has taken part in 12 games, posting a 3-8-0 record with an .898 save percentage. 

It will be interesting to see what happens ahead of the postseason as Hutchinson would require to pass through waivers if he were to be re-assigned to the Marlies. On top of that, Sparks is not eligible to play for the Marlies in the playoffs and he would require waivers to be sent down... The Marlies are the real losers here, having no number one goalie for the rest of the year and the postseason...