Are Canucks going to bring Ben Hutton back to Vancouver?
Is Ben Hutton’s career going to come full circle? Because it sounds like the Vancouver Canucks have some interest in the 33-year-old defenceman.
Hutton is still without a contract, following five seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights, which included a Stanley Cup championship in 2023.
The Canucks have reportedly spoken with Hutton’s agent, Andy Scott.
“Agents are calling Vancouver on some of the remaining UFAs left,” CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal said in an interview with David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal on the Canucks Conversation podcast. “Ben Hutton, to me, is interesting. I did hear there have been some conversations with Hutton’s agent and the Canucks, but not sure where it goes.”
Hutton was all smiles after cracking the Canucks lineup as a rookie in 2015. (@Canucks/X)
Hutton left Vancouver at age 26, playing over 22 minutes a night on an undermanned Canucks blue line. He’s older now, with 575 games of NHL experience, and recently played a depth role on a stacked Golden Knights roster. Hutton scored 15 points (6-9-15) in 55 games last season, averaging just 14:35 per game.
If the Canucks believe Hutton is a culture fit, the left-shot blueliner makes sense for their back end. They could use some more veteran leadership to help their young defencemen.
Vancouver has three NHL-calibre left-shot defencemen pencilled into their lineup for next season: Jamie Oleksiak, Zeev Buium, and Elias Pettersson. Kirill Kudryavtsev is also a dark-horse candidate to make the team.
Their right side currently boasts Filip Hronek, Tom Willander, Luke Schenn, and Victor Mancini.
The Canucks currently have the third-lowest payroll in the league, with $17.81 million in projected cap space, according to PuckPedia. They shouldn’t need to use up much of that space for Hutton, who will likely need to settle for an affordable, short-term deal.
Hutton was a fifth-round draft pick by the Canucks in 2012, and burst onto the scene with 25 points as a rookie in 2015-16. Fans voted him as the winner of the Walter “Babe” Pratt Trophy that season, awarded to the Canucks’ best defenceman.