Canucks center Brandon Sutter hasn’t played this season as he deals with long-term COVID symptoms and it doesn’t sound like he’ll suit up at all as head coach Bruce Boudreau told beat reporter Jeff Paterson (Twitter link) that he doesn’t anticipate the veteran returning to play at any point this season.
The 33-year-old has been with Vancouver since being acquired in a draft day trade back in 2015 and after playing out his five-year, $21.875MM contract last season, he opted to not test the market, instead inking a one-year, $1.125MM contract at the start of free agency. The deal made lots of sense from a value standpoint as Sutter’s defensive game and faceoff prowess made him a quality fourth-liner but unfortunately, he had to shut his offseason training down soon after signing.
Sutter was among the many Vancouver players who contracted the virus last March that resulted in a lengthy shutdown for the team. He was able to return in April but things have certainly worsened for him since then and he currently is on long-term injured reserve (joining winger Micheal Ferland and defenseman Brady Keeper). He’ll once again become an unrestricted free agent in July but at this point, his focus will simply be on recovering over trying to find a contract for 2022-23.
Solid guy in the room. Looks like his career is over after the steep decline and now long-COVID.
Take care of yourself Brandon
Let’s go Brandon!
Grow up
This is no different than all of those many times that NHL players missed entire seasons and their careers were in jeopardy because of the flu.
Name one player who missed over a year because of the flu. They canceled a season because of the 1918 pandemic but no player has ever missed a full year due to the flu as far as I can tell.
Missed games, even playoff series or Olympics but this seems to he an entirely fictional statement
It’s an absolutely terrible virus. There’s just nothing we can do other than put on a mask and stay hidden in our bedrooms. They say diarrhea is commonplace…if that’s the case, I may have had Covid since 2012 and in line for a government pension! If you get this virus, you can count on one thing for sure…you will be fine