Ullmark and Hutton Need To Be Better
In the offseason, I felt the Buffalo Sabres should have been the most active NHL team in search of a number one goaltender. But, instead, the organization elected to stick with Linus Ullmark and Carter Hutton in between the pipes.
What makes matters worse is both of these goalies will be Unrestricted Free Agents at the end of the year. As the starter, Ullmark currently holds a 2.63 GAA (29th in the NHL) and a .912 Save Percentage (26th in the NHL) according to NHL.com. If there is any future for Ullmark in Buffalo, the Sabres’ shot-stopper needs to keep his team in games as best as he can.
As for Hutton, his 3.04 GAA and .895 save percentage isn’t efficient enough to rely on when Ullmark needs to rest. It wouldn’t be a bad call to find another backup goaltender to strengthen the levy’s before the tides come flooding in beyond repair.
Hutton is projected to start tonight against New York Islanders backup goaltender Ilya Sorokin.