Predators hoping to keep goalie Hutton: report

Nashville Predators general manager David Poile is waiting to see whether goalie Carter Hutton will return or if Nashville will be in the market for a backup for goalie Pekka Rinne, The Tennessean reported Tuesday.
Hutton, 30, can be an unrestricted free agent July 1.

"I think we're getting close to having to make a decision," Poile said. "We need to put our best foot forward in terms of what we can or can't offer him. If that's good for him, then we're all set. If not then we need to be prepared to go in a different direction."
Hutton went 7-5-4 with a .918 save percentage and 2.33 goals-against average in 17 games this season.

He has spent the past three seasons as Rinne's backup. When Rinne missed most of the 2013-14 season because of complications following hip surgery, Hutton went 20-11-4 in 40 games.
Poile also said he is trying to trade forward Eric Nystrom, with a buyout a possibility if a trade does not happen. Nystrom has one season left on the four-year, $10 million contract he signed July 5, 2013. The contract has an average annual value of $2.5 million.
"[A trade] has to happen pretty soon," Poile said. "The buyout period starts 48 hours after the Stanley Cup Playoffs [end] and I want to be in position to know whether we can trade him or whether we'd keep him or whether we'd buy him out. We're about a week away from needing to make one of those three decisions."
Nystrom, 33, had seven goals in 46 games this season, and in three seasons with the Predators he has 29 goals and 40 points in 185 games.
In 10 NHL seasons with the Calgary Flames, Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars and Predators, Nystrom has 75 goals and 123 points in 593 games.