Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Arizona Coyotes just can’t get enough of each other, it seems.
The two teams pulled the trigger on their second trade together of the past three days, with the Maple Leafs acquiring goaltender Carter Hutton from the Coyotes on Monday night in exchange for future considerations.
The deal, though, is a bit unusual.
According to Phoenix Coyotes reporter Craig Morgan, Hutton will practice with the Tucson Roadrunners, the Coyotes’ farm team, to get his game back in order. Hutton hasn’t played since suffering a knee injury in October, and while that injury has healed, he’s still working to get back from ankle surgery.
Hutton is 36 years old, signed to an expiring contract at $750,000 for this year, and also cleared waivers earlier this afternoon. It would be something of an understatement to characterize his season as dreadful season to this point, with Hutton appearing in only three games for the Coyotes thus far and earning a shocking .796 save percentage in the process.
With Jack Campbell and Petr Mrazek locked in as the Leafs’ two starting goaltenders moving forward, it’s unclear as to where Hutton would fit on Toronto’s depth chart. Sure, Hutton could be sent to the AHL without needing waivers after clearing them today, but with Erik Kallgren, Joseph Woll, and Michael Hutchinson already sharing the crease for the Toronto Marlies, the veteran would only make an already crowded goalie group even bigger.
