The Senators have moved on from Ben Hutton after giving the veteran defenseman a look on a professional tryout, deciding not to sign him to an NHL contract, according to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen.
Hutton appeared in three preseason games for Ottawa but never forced his way onto the opening-night roster. With top prospect Carter Yakemchuk in the mix, the battle for the seventh defenseman spot came down to Hutton and Nikolas Matinpalo, and the Senators appear to have stuck with Matinpalo. He’s far less experienced than Hutton, but he already held that role for the club and can handle either side of the blue line.
Ottawa brought Hutton in on Sept. 17, using a PTO as it prepared for 2026-27 training camp. A Brockville native, he spent the previous five seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights and won one Sanley Cup there while working in a rotating depth role. Injuries were part of the package in Vegas, too, with Hutton spending time on IR in both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.
Senators general manager Steve Staios told Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen that the club would explore PTO options if concerns about Artem Zub’s injury stretched into camp. That’s what happened, and Hutton became the defender added from head coach Travis Green’s time with the Vancouver Canucks.
Even with the injuries, Hutton carved out a long NHL run. He played 196 games for the Golden Knights, producing 14 goals, 48 points and 74 penalty minutes. That works out to six goals and 20 points per 82 games, solid production for a player averaging 15:21 of ice time.
His biggest offensive season remains his rookie year with the Canucks in 2015-16, when he posted 25 points in 75 games. Since then, he has reached 575 games across 11 NHL seasons by leaning on his steady, two-way game.
The underlying numbers in Vegas were respectable, too. Hutton finished above 50 percent in expected-goals-for percentage in four of his five seasons with the Golden Knights, including a 55.7 percent mark in 2023-24, per HockeyStats. Over his career, his teams have averaged 2.41 goals against per game.
Ottawa’s blue line has already taken hits from injuries, and the club is set to give Yakemchuk a full-time shot next season. That leaves Matinpalo, Jorian Donovan, Tomas Hamara and Hoyt Stanley competing for the extra defenseman job. Hutton would have been in the mix for that role, and a strong camp could have put him above that group as a reserve option behind Yakemchuk and Tyler Kleven.
Instead, the Senators are moving ahead without him. Hutton leaves camp with no contract, while Ottawa continues sorting out its depth on defense.
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