The Ottawa Senators have signed defenseman Ben Hutton to a professional tryout contract ahead of their 2026-27 training camp. Hutton, a Brockville-native, spent the last five seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights.
He won one Stanley Cup with the Golden Knights while filling a rotating depth role in the lineup. Hutton was also routinely limited by injuries during his time in Vegas, including stints on IR in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns.
Senators general manager Steve Staios told Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen that the team would pursue PTO contracts if concerns around Artem Zub’s injury carried into training camp. It seems that may be the case, with the Senators now adding a defender from head coach Travis Green’s time with the Vancouver Canucks.
Around his absences, Hutton stepped into 196 games with the Golden Knights. He totaled 14 goals, 48 points, and 74 penalty minutes in those appearances.
Those marks average out to six goals and 20 points per 82 games, stout numbers for a defender who averaged 15:21 in ice time.
Hutton is unlikely to make a big splash. His career-year stands as his rookie season in the NHL – the 2015-16 season – when he scored 25 points in 75 games with the Vancouver Canucks.
He has found his way to 575 games and 11 seasons in the NHL despite never improving upon that scoring, largely thanks to his reliability as a poised, two-way defender.
Hutton recorded an expected-goals-for percentage (xGF%) above 50 percent in four of his five seasons with Vegas, including a 55.7 percent in 2023-24 per HockeyStats. Throughout his career, his squads have averaged 2.41 goals-against per-game – roughly in-line with league-average and a mark he outperformed multiple times over the last decade.
A string of injuries held back the Senators’ blue line as they tried to keep their momentum down the stretch of the 2025-26 season. Ottawa seems set to promote top prospect Carter Yakemchuk to a full-time role next season, while Nikolas Matinpalo, Jorian Donovan, Tomas Hamara, and Hoyt Stanley compete for the role of extra defender.
Hutton could slot above each of those options, and serve as the extra hand behind Yakemchuk and Tyler Kleven, with a strong camp performance. The 33 year old brings over a decade of NHL experience and could fill a need while younger defenders earn playing time in the AHL.