One Former Red Wings Goalie Helping Another

Michael Hutchinson is the talk of Finland since the former Detroit Red Wings goalie was arriving to play for SaiPa in the SM-liiga, the country’s top hockey league.

He’s showing 3-2-4 numbers with the club, which was struggling to win prior to Hutchinson showing up last November.

The 34-year-old netminder has 158 NHL games on his resume, including one last season for the Red Wings. However, it’s another former Red Wings goalie who Hutchinson credits for reviving his career.

Stuck at fifth on the depth chart with the Vegas Golden Knights during the 2022-23 season, Hutchinson was ultimately dealt to the Columbus Blue Jackets. There, he’d come under the tutelage of Columbus goalie coach Manny Legace. Legace was a Detroit goalie from 1999-2006. He won a Stanley Cup as Dominik Hasek’s backup in 2001-02.

34 year old former @MapleLeafs & @NHLJets goaltender Michael Hutchinson has signed in Finland's @smliiga with SaiPa Lapeenstra. UFA had been on PTO with @NJDevils until Oct. 1st. pic.twitter.com/KkrgpoHyqg

— Hockey Talk (@HockeyTalk913) November 17, 2024

“Manny and I rebuilt my style of play,” Hutchinson explained to Finnish website Ilta-Santomat. “We went back to the things that worked in Winnipeg, where I played the best hockey of my career.”

Among the changes implemented by Legace were to encourage Hutchinson to focus on improving his mobility between the posts and to challenge the shooters with more frequency.

“That’s how I got the flow back into my game,” Hutchinson said. “I used to block too much with my heels deep in the goal, which doesn’t work in today’s NHL because the game is faster and the puck moves sharply laterally.

“I started playing more boldly outside the goal and challenging the shooters. At the same time, I changed my skates to the same ones I used to play with.”

Hutchinson Spent 2023-24 Season In Red Wings Organization

Along with his one game in Detroit, Hutchinson was suiting up for 32 games with the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins. He was serving as a mentor to 2021 first-round pick Sebastian Cossa.

When no North American offers were forthcoming last summer, Hutchinson began considering a European option.

Lets check how Michael Hutchinson and Sherwood Park’s own Mark Pysyk are doing in Finland with Saipa (in gold). They just arrived, this is their second game. Saipa makes it franchise record 10 wins in a row pic.twitter.com/2qXAThdkX9

— Jouni Nieminen 🇺🇦 (@OnsideWithJouni) November 23, 2024

“I haven’t had the chance to play consecutive games very often in my career,” Hutchinson said. “When I have, my stats have often been pretty good. It’s much more fun to play than to watch games on the bench.

“That’s why I’ve been very open to the possibility of moving to Europe. Luckily, things worked out, and I ended up at SaiPa.”