Florida Panthers: Michael Hutchinson’s Role for This Season

During this summer’s free agency period, the Florida Panthers brought in goaltender Michael Hutchinson. What will his role be with the Panthers this year?

In order to have a team that will have a chance to be a contender for the Stanley Cup, they need to have strong goaltending all around. The Panthers made this one of their priorities when they signed goaltender Michael Hutchinson from the Winnipeg Jets during this year’s free agency.

In his four years with the Jets organization, Hutchinson received all the experience he needed in order to become a solid backup netminder. Although he spent a good chunk of time with Winnipeg’s minor league affiliate (the Manitoba Moose), Hutchinson played in 102 games total at the NHL level with the Jets and always recorded a GAA of under 3, all while maintaining an above .900 SV%.

After the Panthers lost their third string goalie (Harri Sateri in free agency), they immediately went out and made sure they got an NHL caliber replacement to fill Sateri’s position. This move to sign Hutchinson will prove to be incredibly important down the line from now.

Currently, the Panthers have two starting goaltenders on their active roster. Both Roberto Luongo and James Reimer are overqualified to start in the NHL. And, although Luongo is the presumed No. 1 goalie over Reimer, James has been the starting goalie for the Cats in the past two seasons due to injuries suffered by Luongo.

Injuries. This is exactly why the Panthers brought in a goalie like Hutchinson. Both Lu and Reims have struggled with injuries in the previous years, and there’s a decent chance it could happen again this season.

In a league where goaltending is crucial to a team’s success, the Panthers want to be certain that they have an NHL caliber goaltender ready to play throughout the season.

Last season, both Luongo and Reimer were injured at the same time. During that stretch, the Cats were already near the basement of the league, and it looked like it was only going to get worse for them.

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All of a sudden, the Panthers were forced to throw in a goalie who never had any NHL experience before. Luckily, Sateri was ready to fulfill the duties of becoming an NHL goaltender. It was partially because of Sateri that the Panthers started the push towards contending for a wild-card spot after he led them to five straight victories.

With Luongo now at the age of 39, it’s almost inevitable that he will go down with some type of injury during the year. By having Hutchinson in the organization, the Panthers can feel somewhat comfortable knowing that they’ll still have a solid goaltending tandem in Reimer and Hutchinson. The same thing stands if Reimer gets injured during the season.

The one tricky thing for Florida is keeping Hutchinson a Panther during the year. Because Hutchinson signed a one-way contract with the Panthers back in July, if sent down to the AHL, he is eligible to be picked up by another team via waivers.

Michael is more than capable of being a full-time backup at this level, which means that the Panthers could be at risk if they choose to send him down to the minors.

Is it possible that the Panthers can keep three goaltenders on the active roster in order to avoid losing Hutchinson? While it’s entirely possible for the Panthers to do this, it would be very strange.

Considering the Cats have both Luongo and Reimer on this roster, it wouldn’t make sense to scratch Hutchinson every game. He likely won’t see any playing time at the NHL level unless one of Luongo or Reimer gets hurt.

This means that the Panthers will presumably send Hutchinson down to the AHL and take the risk of having him potentially be claimed by another team. His role this season will likely be limited in playing time, but for the same reasons Dale signed him, Hutchinson will play as the third-stringer and fill in when the team needs him most.

While the Panthers are hoping for a fully healthy Luongo and Reimer throughout the entire season, they’ll be more than comfortable turning to Hutchinson if and when they need him to man the net.