NHL Rumors: 3 Potential Destinations for Ville Husso

St Louis Blues netminder Ville Husso will be one of the more interesting free agents on the open market this summer. Husso is a 27-year-old sophomore who only has 57 games of NHL regular season experience under his belt and now seven Stanley Cup Playoff games. He's also coming off a league minimum contract of $750,000 this season so general managers are in tough to construct his next deal. Here's three teams Husso could end up signing with come July 13 when free agency begins:

New Jersey Devils

The Devils are going to be one of the more aggressive teams this offseason as management wants their young team to take the next step in 2022-23. General manager Tom Fitzgerald is looking for a running mate for Mackenzie Blackwood in New Jersey's crease and Husso could be the affordable option he desires. While the postseason was a struggle, Husso was lights out in the regular season posting a 2.56 GAA and a .919 save %. The Devils won't have salary cap issues this summer so expect them to be one of the highest bidders for the 6-foot-2 Finnish netminder. 

Toronto Maple Leafs

If Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas can't get Jack Campbell signed under $5 million, look for Toronto to turn their attention to Husso once they are able to. He's likely going to sign a three or four year deal at $3.5 million or so, a number that would work for Dubas under Toronto's cap constraints. The Maple Leafs are in win-now mode as some of their superstars only have a couple years left on their contracts, so if it's not Husso, expect to see the Leafs acquire a legitimate #1 netminder for next season.

Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres are edging closer to being in the playoff picture in the eastern conference as after they traded Jack Eichel the team took huge strides in 2021-22. All they need now is a starting goalie and Husso could be the guy. Buffalo has a ton of cap space to work with currently over $42 million available and considering they have zero goalies signed for next season and their best prospects not quite NHL ready, Husso makes a ton of sense for the Sabres.

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