Buffalo Sabres goaltender Linus Ullmark should not be the starter on a nightly basis… at least, not yet.
Amidst a tough spell for the Buffalo Sabres recently, fans have been frustrated at best with a great deal of things. One in particular has been the play of current starter Carter Hutton. Over his past few games he has been victimized by poor defensive play, very unlucky bounces, and some honestly otherwise weak play.
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These reasons have caused some fans to grow weary of Hutton in favor or Linus Ullmark. While I can understand why fans would want to have Ullmark starting over Hutton, there are a number of reasons for that to not happen; at least not yet.
Linus Ullmark will take over the mantle of starting goalie one day, possibly as early as next season, but he hasn’t shown enough to prove he can be the man to count on each night. While his stats are good, and even better than some other starting goalies in the NHL, they aren’t good enough to justify swapping him and Hutton on the depth chart.
Ullmark has posted a 10-4-3 record in 18 starts, alongside a 2.70 GAA, and .916 SV%. In that time he has also posted 2 shutout performances. Yes, these numbers are good, but constant rest and some easier opponents have skewed these stats positively. While it’s easy to see he is posting some good numbers, I don’t think it justifies ripping the starter position away from Hutton.
Carter Hutton has posted a 14-14-3 record alongside a 2.75 GAA, and a .912 SV%. He has not put up any shutouts this season. Hutton has a unique skill that some goalies just don’t have; mental toughness and focus to match it. Yes there are nights where Hutton just doesn’t have what it takes to win, but more often than not this season, he has shown he can will his way to a good performance. He stays calm under pressure, and this is a trait that would suit Ullmark to learn.
It would do Linus Ullmark and the Buffalo Sabres in general good to let Hutton finish out the season as the starter. They can continue to split games about 65%-35%, and Ullmark will get to learn more along the way. Hutton can lead by example by showing what it takes to keep focus in a tough time and push through for your team. It’s obvious the team likes to play in front of both goalies, but it seems like they trust Hutton a little more than Ullmark so far. Where Hutton plays a calculating and positional game, Ullmark has a similar style, but he loses his spacing sometimes and panics.
It will do Linus Ullmark well to watch what it takes to play through a whole season and learn what it means to be the last line of defense for a potential playoff team.