Brandon Sutter is coming off a good year, and an incredible playoff run. His best season came back in 2009-10 when he put up 21 goals and 40 points for the Carolina Hurricanes. He has yet to put up those kind of numbers here, but the Pens are hoping that his post season performance is a sign of things to come. Last season in 81 games for Pittsburgh, Sutter scored 13 goals, 26 total points and was very good on the penalty kill. His coming out party for the Pens came in the playoffs. In 13 playoff games, Sutter set career highs in goals (5), points (7), plus-minus (+7) and scored a big shorthanded goal during the Rangers series. The deal he earned today shows that the Pens believe that what they saw in the playoffs is the "real" Brandon Sutter.
My Overall thoughts on the deal and going forward
The deal is also very good for the Penguins organization. The Pens had roughly 4.2 million left before signing Sutter, and I won't lie, I didn't expect the Pens to have this much cap space left following his deal. Sutter took a little pit of a discount from the numbers we were speculating. 3.3 annually to Sutter allows the Pens to have roughly nine hundred thousand dollars left in cap space. This means they have enough space to offer someone a camp tryout and possibly sign them to a one year deal; similar to what we saw with Chuck Kobasew last year.
As for what it means for Sutter and the team on the ice, its a good move that he was brought back. Brandon Sutter is by far the Pens best defensive forward. He does his job in the defensive end and is very good on the penalty kill. Sutter's re-signing means that the Pens will still have a solid defensive forward on their PK.
Now for many out there, they will say that Sutter's numbers haven't been that great and question whether he deserves a raise to 3.3. million annually. Let me put those thoughts to rest right now. His first year was a strike shortened year with a brand new team. He didn't have the time to adjust to a new system. Last year, Sutter was much better all-around, and that is really saying something considering the cast of characters he had on his line all year. Besides a few games where he winged for Crosby, Sutter had minor leaguers flanking him on the wings, all season. I would be willing to bet that those problems will be solved this year with the trade and signing of Nick Spaling and with either Beau Bennett, Pascal Dupuis or Steve Downie on his line.
The re-signing of Brandon Sutter is a great move for the Pens. They got their guy to center their third line, but even better they got him for less money than he probably could have gotten. That allows the organization a little bit of room if they make a trade before training camp or wish to invite someone to camp and sign them. You have that, then you have Sutter's play. I truly believe that what we saw in the playoffs is the "real" Brandon Sutter. I think he will be a better offensive player this year with a better supporting cast, without it taking away from his defensive play. The signing of Flat Stanley today means one more thing, the Penguins have their roster for the 2014-15 season. I don't know about the rest of you, but that has got me incredibly excited for mid-September. With that, all I have left to say is welcome back Ol Boy!