Ex-Canucks Brandon Sutter Set To Start His NHL Comeback In Edmonton

Vancouver Canucks
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NHL
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Brandon Sutter, who skated for six seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, will attend the Edmonton Oilers’ training camp on a try-out basis.

Published Aug 09, 2023 • 3 minute read

Persistent COVID-19 long-hauler symptoms robbed Brandon Sutter of the ability to breathe properly. Photo by Jonathan Kozub /Getty Images

Brandon Sutter is one step closer to his dream of playing NHL hockey again.

The 34-year-old centre hasn’t played a game since the end of the 2021 season because of the after-effects of Long COVID.

Sutter skated with the Canucks for six seasons and was under contract for a seventh, the 2021-22 season, but he didn’t play that year because of symptoms that included a racing heart beat and extreme fatigue.

A source has confirmed to Postmedia that Sutter will attend Edmonton Oilers training camp this fall on a professional try-out agreement. Bob Stauffer, colour commentator on Oilers radio broadcasts, was the first to report the news on Tuesday evening.

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Down in Red Deer for the Battle of Alberta Golf Tournament for the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre

Hearing that Brandon Sutter, 34, 6’3” right shot center…who hasn’t played the last couple of seasons…
Will be coming to @EdmontonOilers Training Camp on a PTO

— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) August 9, 2023

Like most of his teammates, Sutter first contracted COVID-19 in the Canucks’ team-wide outbreak midway through the 2020-21 season. Despite some harrowing moments for him and his wife and their kids, they recovered and Sutter finished the season.

But in hindsight, there were some early signs that he might take longer than most to recover.

“I came back and played after (shutdown) and I didn’t really noticed any issues. Then in May and June, I started having a couple of issues of being short of breath and then I’d be okay. I could train and skate and it wasn’t really an issue,” Sutter told Postmedia a year ago.

And he went to get vaccinated, because that was just the right thing to do. But, it seems, the vaccine triggered bigger symptoms, putting his off-season training to a halt.

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His heart-beat would race to extreme levels during exercise and then wouldn’t settle when he would rest. He struggled at times climbing stairs. He would get exhausted helping out around the house and playing with his kids.

The universe just wasn’t on his side, something he long ago came to terms with. Getting vaccinated was the right choice; his timing was just very, very bad he believes.

“I wish I would have waited until I felt 100 per cent healthy before getting the vaccine, but at that time, nobody really knew the answers on this stuff,” he said. “It was trial and error and really didn’t work out for me. I’m in no way an anti-vaxxer.”

During the 2021-22 season, he would be occasionally spotted around the rink, often stopping to chat with reporters, showing his usual upbeat self despite the difficulties he was facing. He would try to skate or work out from time to time, testing his body to see if it was ready to re-start his training yet.

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He went through fits and starts but by last fall, was getting closer to who he thought he could be. He skated often with the Red Deer Rebels, his old junior team, where his father Brent remains general manager.

He was feeling so well by mid-season that he saw a glimmer of hope that maybe he’d be fit enough to make himself available as a free agent leading up to the trade deadline, but he ran out of time.

But now he seems to have pulled ahead in the race against time. Just skating in training camp will feel like a win.

Of course, he’ll be after an even bigger win than that: a full-time spot in the NHL.

He’s one of the true good guys in the NHL, and plenty will be pulling for him to do so.

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