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New York Islanders Starting Goalie Available at 2018 NHL Draft

ST LOUIS, MO - MAY 17: Dainius Zubrus #9 of the San Jose Sharks (not pictured) scores an empty net goal during the third period against the St. Louis Blues in Game Two of the Western Conference Final during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center on May 17, 2016 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO - MAY 17: Dainius Zubrus #9 of the San Jose Sharks (not pictured) scores an empty net goal during the third period against the St. Louis Blues in Game Two of the Western Conference Final during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center on May 17, 2016 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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GLENDALE, AZ – MARCH 31: Goaltender Carter Hutton #40 of the St. Louis Blues skates back to the net during a break from the third period of the NHL game against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on March 31, 2018 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Carter Hutton | St. Louis Blues

Record: 32 games, 17-7-3, 2.09GAA, .931SV%
Status: UFA

Based purely on his statistics, Carter Hutton is the best goalie available to the New York Islanders. And he’s an unrestricted free agent to boot.

His 2.09 GAA and .931SV% are miles better than any other goalie that is rumored or are actually available. If he could pull that off as a starter, playing between 50-60 games, the Islanders would be laughing their way to the playoffs.

The only issues – or at least the biggest issue – is can he be a starter in the NHL?

At 32-years-old Carter Hutton has never played more than 40 games in a season. Sure his career stats are good at 2.42 GAA and .915SV% But what happens when his workload effectively doubles in 2018-19? Can he keep it up? It’s certainly possible. But it’s one heck of a risk to take.

We also have to consider that Hutton is, again, 32-years-old. He’s not ancient or too old, but he’s on the wrong side of 30 for the New York Islanders to consider him an option passed this season. Although that does present its advantage should Linus Soderstrom be ready to take the starter job next season.

With all that being said, I still rate Hutton as a target for the Islanders. His numbers are solid and his potential cap hit could end up being between $3 million to $3.5 million. Saving the Isles somewhere between $1 to $1.5 million on the cap for them to reinvest elsewhere.

Isles Appeal Rank: 5/10

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