Center Brandon Sutter unlikely to play this season for Canucks

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, $21.875 million contract last season, he opted to not test the market, instead inking a one-year, $1.125 million 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 Canucks. 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.