Oilers reportedly sign veteran forward to a PTO knowing that he wasn't healthy
Veteran forward Brandon Sutter has announced that he is retiring from professional hockey after attempting to make a comeback with the Edmonton Oilers.
Sutter had been on the mend for the last 2 seasons due to a complications from COVID-19. He last played for the Vancouver Canucks in the shortened 2020-21 campaign. Unfortunately, his attempt to make a return with the Oilers on a PTO didn't work out as the forward said that "he wasn't completely healthy and wanted to do right by his family."
"I'm grateful for the opportunity that Ken, Jay and the Oilers organization have provided to me the past few weeks," said Sutter in a statement after his release. "You need to be 100 percent healthy to compete in the NHL, and although my health continues to improve, in consideration of my health and family, I am officially retiring from hockey.
"Thank you to the Oilers, Canucks, Penguins and Hurricanes, as well as all my past coaches, trainers and teammates for the incredible experiences throughout my 13 seasons in the NHL."
The interesting part of all this is that Ken Holland and the Oilers had signed the forward when he wasn't healthy or had not fully recovered from his bout with COVID. Fortunately his condition hadn't worsened to a further extent and that he was able to make the right decision before lacing up for another game.
He managed to score 9 goals and 12 points in 43 games while averaging 15:05 TOI in 2020-21. The 9 represented the most amount of goals he had scored since 2017-18. In parts of 6 seasons with the Canucks, Sutter had scored 54 goals and 104 points in 275 games, while averaging 17:04 TOI.
He had previously played 3 seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins and 4 seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes - the team that drafted him with the 11th overall selection in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. In totality, he scored 152 goals and 289 points in 770 games across 13 seasons.
