Pittsburgh Penguins looking forward to using Brandon Sutter in lieu of Jordan Staal -NHL Update
Pittsburgh Penguins seem to have gotten over the whole Jordan Staal fiasco as they are now looking towards young centre player, Brandon Sutter, to fill in the gap and stay with the team for a long time on the line with Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby.
The Penguins might not know it but Sutter just may be a blessing in disguise as the 23-year-old definitely does have a lot of potential and some tips and tricks from some of the best in hockey today, Crosby and Malkin may be able to groom the player into
what the team really needs.
Jordan Staal was shipped off to the Carolina Hurricanes earlier in July as he opted to join brother, Eric Staal, after refusing to sign a 10-year, multi-million dollar deal.
Acquiring Brandon Sutter was something that kept general manager of Pittsburgh Penguins, Ray Shero, interested in the whole deal, otherwise giving up Staal was not worth anything for him.
"Brandon is the key to the deal for us," Shero said on the day of the trade. "We really like Derrick Pouliot a lot and Brian Dumoulin is a key asset as well, but an NHL-ready Brandon Sutter -- he’s a proven player in the League. He’s a young player. He’s
signed. We love the character. We love what he brings. He’s got good size. It is hard to find guys like that. Defensemen and centers are difficult to find. He’s a real key to the deal for us, and we look forward to having him with us for many years."
The 23-year-old member of the Sutter clan, one of hockey’s most celebrated families, is definitely excited about the opportunity to play with some of the sport’s best players to have ever graced it.
Native of Huntington, New York, United States, Brandon Sutter was picked up by Carolina Hurricanes as 11th overall back in 2007 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft. In four seasons of his career in the NHL so far, all with Carolina, Sutter
has 286 games played and 107 points (53 goals, 54 assists) under his belt.
"I think here I was before, I liked my role there and I feel it’s going to be kind of similar here," Sutter said.
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