The Vancouver Canucks announced that center Brandon Sutter will not return this year as he’s set to undergo hernia surgery.
Canucks announce Brandon Sutter will undergo surgery to address a sports hernia on his right side. Out 6-8 weeks.
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) March 5, 2019
Brandon Sutter Out Rest of the Season
Sutter was put on IR on February 11th with what at the time was an undisclosed injury. It has now been revealed that the Huntington, NY native has a sports hernia.
This season, Sutter scored four goals and two assists for six points to go along with six minutes in penalties in 26 games. His possession numbers were 41.3 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of 41.3 percent.
Over his 11-year NHL career, Sutter has played for the Carolina Hurricanes, Pittsburgh Penguins and Vancouver Canucks. He has 135 goals and 125 assists for 260 career points in 683 career games. He was originally drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes 11th overall in the 2007 NHL Draft.
What This Means for the Future
Sutter began the season on IR with a shoulder injury which kept him out of the first 30 games for the Canucks. Additionally, he also missed 21 games last year with an upper-body injury. In his absence, Adam Gaudette has been seeing time on the second line. In 40 games Gaudette has put up five goals and five assists for 10 points.
The team is looking ahead to next season. A season that leaves Sutter with two years left on a five-year deal with Vancouver which includes a 15 team no-trade clause. Sutter will look to stay healthy next year as he has proven to be a guy who can put up about 15 goals a year if he’s able to stay healthy. However, he is an asset for the Canucks. Since joining the Canucks in 2015 Sutter has been a huge help in the faceoff circle. He is currently at 52.5 percent in his four years with Vancouver. In his career, he is 49.6 percent on draws. Without question, the Canucks will look to welcome back one of their alternate captains next year when they begin training camp.
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