Canucks: Where does Brandon Sutter fit next season?

Brandon Sutter interests the Vancouver Canucks because of his elite penalty-killing skills, but does the ageing centerman still have a roster spot next year?

The Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning is facing his most challenging offseason to date (COVID-19 has taken an unknown toll on the future of NHL hockey) and he’ll likely have some difficult decisions to make in regards to how he wants the team’s head coach, Travis Green to deploy the roster next season. Brandon Sutter may be one of those hard choices.

The shutdown center, who at times has been referred to as “elite” by his coach, has spent the last five seasons in Vancouver, but over that course of time in a Canucks jersey, he never reached the full on-ice potential of what his annual earnings would suggest.

Brought in by Benning to be a shutdown guy in the forward group’s middle-six, Sutter has failed to live up to the expectations year after year. His best season came in 2016-17, where he played the most games he’s ever completed in a single season while playing for Vancouver (81), and he registered the most points in his Canucks career as well (34).

On top of Sutter’s regressing game by game production, the ageing 31-year-old has only laced up the skates and competed in 56.5% of all total games. That means that for 43.5% of the time, Sutter has been earning his $4.375 million annually by riding pine of sitting in the press box.

The 2019-20 campaign wasn’t much different for Sutter. His offensive struggles continued ( he only registered 17 points) and eventually, he got outplayed and overworked by a younger and hungrier player in the likes of Adam Gaudette. Sutter was then replaced and moved further down the line-up.

Even his strong face-off skills weren’t enough to help him maintain a lock on his position. Jay Beagle was top-five league-wide in faceoff win percent, meaning that Sutter was forced to the wing. The only time he saw the faceoff dot was when he was asked to patrol the first 2nd unit PK, even Beagle managed to out him on PK1.

So what can Sutter possibly bring to the Canucks next season that has value? He lost his third-line center spot and he was moved to the wing in favour of a better faceoff guy. So what’s next?

Sutter will be on the final year of his contract when the puck drops next season. The ice-surface isn’t getting any bigger for him, and the cap space is getting thinner and thinner by the day. If Sutter can’t still be a key-piece to the PK, look for Benning to really try and move out Sutter this summer. His price tag may require the Canucks’ GM to add a sweetener, but it may be what’s best for both sides.

Sutter is a character guy in the locker room and he’s liked and respected by all of his teammates, but the fact is that he’s being bested by players who want it more. He’s had more than his fair share of cracks in Van-city and it may be time to move on and play hockey elsewhere.