Brandon Sutter

Brandon Sutter (born February 14, 1989) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is the son of Calgary Flames head coach Brent Sutter, and a member of the famous Sutter family.

Playing career
Sutter played major junior hockey with the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League (WHL) under head coach and father Brent Sutter. During the 2006–07 season, he was selected to represent the WHL at the annual ADT Canada-Russia Challenge. Additionally, Sutter was selected to play in the 2007 CHL Top Prospects Game in January. In the off-season, Sutter was drafted 11th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

After a brief stint with Carolina's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Albany River Rats, at the end of his 2007–08 WHL season, Sutter debuted in the NHL with the Hurricanes in 2008–09. He scored his first NHL goal on October 23, 2008 against Marc-André Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The next game, on October 25, Sutter suffered a concussion after a collision with former Hurricane Doug Weight of the New York Islanders. Sutter had his head down as he was leaning forward for a loose puck in the neutral zone when Weight caught him with his shoulder. Although the hit was ruled as legal and Weight was not assessed any penalty, it re-sparked the debate in the NHL on head shots. Sutter returned to the lineup after missing eight games.

On July 12, 2011, Sutter signed a three-year contract with the Carolina Hurricanes worth $6.2 million.

On June 22, 2012, Sutter was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins, along with Brian Dumoulin and Carolina's 2012 NHL Entry Draft first round pick (which the Penguins used to select Derrick Pouliot), in return for Jordan Staal.[4]

On March 12, 2013, In a game against the Boston Bruins, Sutter scored two goals, 3 minutes & 24 seconds apart, in the 3rd period that led to a 3-2 comeback victory for the Penguins. [5]

On August 5, 2014, the Penguins announced they had re-signed Sutter to a two-year contract, worth $6.6 million.[6]

On July 28, 2015, Sutter was traded by the Penguins along with a 2016 NHL Entry Draft 3rd-round pick to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Nick Bonino, Adam Clendening, and a 2nd-round pick in 2016.[7]

On August 4, 2015, the Canucks had announced they had signed Sutter to a 5-year, $21.875 million deal.

International play
Sutter, who has dual citizenship of both the United States and Canada, elected to play for the latter in international competition. Sutter represented Team Canada extensively during his junior career at the under-18 and under-20 levels. He competed in two IIHF World U18 Championships in 2006 and 2007, losing the bronze medal game in both tournaments.

Shortly after being drafted into the NHL in the summer of 2007, Sutter was chosen to represent Team Canada at the 2007 Super Series, an eight-game showdown between Canada and Russia's under-20 teams, where father Brent was head coach. Playing Game 7 in his hometown Red Deer, he scored a goal and was named player of the game. The match, coincidentally, also marked the last junior game Brent coached in Red Deer, where he had previously just completed a seven-year coaching career with the Rebels. Sutter made his second under-20 appearance for Team Canada at the 2008 World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic, where he helped Canada win gold, overcoming Sweden 3-2 in overtime.

Family
Sutter is part of the famous Sutter hockey family. He is the son of Brent Sutter, who coached him in junior with the Red Deer Rebels and Team Canada at the 2007 Super Series; he is the current head coach of the Calgary Flames. He has an older brother, Merrick who currently serves as the Rebels video coach and a younger sister, Brooke.

His cousin Brett was a teammate of his with the Rebels and was drafted two years ahead of him by the Calgary Flames, and currently plays in the Hurricanes organization after a trade on November 17, 2010. Another cousin, Brody, is currently a forward for the Western Hockey League's Lethbridge Hurricanes and was drafted 193rd overall by Carolina in the 2011 draft. Brandon grew up in Huntington, New York, Chicago and Red Deer, Alberta.