Winnipeg Jets Goaltender Performance Tracker Update: Michael Hutchinson

Since our last look at Michael Hutchinson this season the Jets young goaltender has started in two games, looking quite fantastic in both performances. With a shutout against the ever dangerous Chicago Blackhawks and a solid outing against the Hurricanes on Thursday night, you have to think Paul Maurice’s confidence in Hutch is growing. The guy has allowed one goal in his last three appearances. He’s earned more time.

The Basics

Michael Hutchinson’s numbers are still all drawn off of a pretty darn small sample. He’s only started three games and played in a total of four this season, so even though many of these numbers look good (and I think they have earned him a bigger role) they need to be taken with a grain of salt.

Either way, a total of four goals in four appearances is pretty nice.

Situations

With only one special teams goal against being added to this chart since the last post, there is little new that I can say. I think early negative judgement on a goalie who allowed two of his three even strength goals on odd man rushes is kind of ridiculous, and he's shown a lot in his last two starts.

The Jets have appeared to clean up their play in front of him as well. It's been nice to watch.

Reasons

I do still have one criticism in regards to Michael Hutchinson. His rebound control needs a bit of improvement. I wouldn't say it's nearly as bad as Pavelec has been in the past, but it's definitely been a concern of mine. What makes him different in my eyes though, has been his ability to recover positionally to almost every rebound he allows. He stays calm, rarely flails, and keeps his body in front of the puck. This is something Pavelec hasn't been able to do for long stretches before.

Goal Location

Again, nothing has really changed on this chart. Not really too much I can read here, outside of two open net goals in situations that Hutch wasn't able to recover as explained above. No glaring weaknesses yet, but he's a new trick for teams in the NHL. They aren't familiar with his style, his play, or his tendencies. As film on the kid grows, teams may be able to figure him out.

Evidence

Since there was only one goal scored on Hutch since my last post on him, I guess I'll just break that one down….?

Goal 1 @ Carolina

This goal really just displays a case of an unlucky bounce for the Jets, and makes the case for the importance of always going to the net.

Carolina is on a power play here and they overload the far side of the ice. Although both Mark Stuart and Jim Slater are in good position, This overloading has drawn Jacob Trouba a little bit higher than you would probably want to see him. This opens up a slight passing lane for Gerbe, who has time and space to make a smart decision.

The play that really changes this for the Hurricanes here, is what Elias Lindholm does as soon as the puck hits his stick. He rapidly pivots and heads to the from to the net, and get the puck into a high-traffic area.

As a result, the puck takes a bounce off of Mark Stuart’s foot, and goes right into the net. A lucky bounce drawn from a smart play, and it’s suddenly a tie game.

Summary

As of Thursday night Jets starter Ondrej Pavelec ranked second in the NHL for goaltender time played, already tallying 875:35 this season. Now I will be the first to admit his play has been pretty impressive thus far this season. But that workload can’t keep up. Regardless of his “improved fitness”, Pavelec is on pace to play simply unrealistic minutes this season. This will almost certainly wear him down, and eventually hamper his performance. That’s not a shot at Pavelec, it’s just how these things work. The Jets seem to have a solid guy in Hutchinson. They need to start using him.