Allen joked, "I take no credit for his puck-handling ability. He sees the ice well and has the ability to help our D-men start the break out. In Rockford, we built our retrievals around his skill set."
Hutton's best season was last year with St. Louis, where he went 17-7-3 with a 2.09 goals-against average and .931 save percentage. Not surprisingly to Allen.
"Watching him play the last few years, I see his continued progression of being under control and well-positioned," Allen said. "The biggest difference I see now is his confidence level in the NHL. He has earned his minutes year after year, showing his coaches they can play him in all situations against any team."
Playing for the Sabres will mark the first time Hutton has been based in the East. His career record against Eastern Conference opponents is 35-12-3, with a 2.15 GAA and .919 SV%.
San Jose, Chicago, Nashville and St. Louis. Those were Hutton's stops on his journey to this point. Why will Buffalo be a good fit at this point in time?
"Carter is a great fit for our young Sabres team," Allen said. "Our team is in an exciting building stage and Carter will bring character, experience and the ability to win games to our group, all the while competing to continue to earn his starts both in practice and through game results.
"Carter will be an ideal partner for Linus Ullmark - to communicate with, learn from and create healthy competition. Playing with Pekka Rinne for multiple years taught him a lot about how to be successful in the NHL and he will pass this on to Ullmark through the way he goes about his business every day."