It was April 28, and Brandon Sutter sat pretty much stone-faced at his stall in Columbus’ cramped visitors’ locker room. Unlaced his skates. Exchanged a couple pleasantries with teammates. Not much else. And not much different, really, than any of his fellow Penguins, all locked in a drop-dead-serious Stanley Cup playoff series at the time.
But, man, where it concerned Sutter specifically, it was nothing less than diametrically different than a year earlier on Long Island.
The chin was up, not sunk at the chest.
The eyes were focused, not glazed.
“It’s not easy the first time you do anything,” he’d tell me that morning after I failed to find a polite way to ask what had gotten into him since essentially folding in 2013. “I didn’t really get that playoff experience when I played in Carolina, so that was my first. But the people I talked to after that just told me to be myself, to play my game. Don’t try to do more. So when I got to playing well late in this season, that’s what I wanted to have as my mindset. Just keep going.”
Just keep going?
Uh-uh, sorry, there had to have been something else, something more. Because what played out in that postseason wasn’t just Sutter’s five goals in 13 games or team-best plus-7 rating. It was that Sutter … well, Rob Scuderi described it beautifully Wednesday at Consol Energy Center: “He was our best overall forward in the playoffs.”
No doubt. And this on a team with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin. And while Sutter was saddled on a third line that, over the 2013-14 season and postseason, saw 19 different linemates, some of them AHL farmhands.
“Not to take anything away from other guys,” Scuderi continued, “but when you just look at his overall body of work in each of the games, the way he was able to get the puck into the zone, dominate physically, recapture pucks we dumped in, all the smart plays, all the things he does does on the penalty kill … all the things a team needs to win at the big moments. I thought he delivered.”
Wait, he’s not done yet.
“In spades.”
OK, that’s more like it.
So now, I’ll ask again, especially since Sutter will enter tonight’s meeting with the visiting Stars — 7:08 p.m. faceoff — with all that swagger and all those spades very much intact: What happened?
Well, let’s start with the obvious: He’s talented.
It’s not just that Sutter comes with the pedigree of being the 11th overall pick or that every GM that’s employed him — Jim Rutherford, then Ray Shero, now Rutherford — has been adamant that there’s more to him than two-way tenacity.
Nor is it that Sutter has scored a respectable 79 goals in 417 NHL games with a healthy 10.2 shooting percentage to illlustrate a soft touch.
No, it’s the how that gets me.
Check out, please, this rather fun discussion we had Wednesday:
Ordinary scorers will find ways to score, usually lots of them because they have to keep goaltenders guessing. Rare is the scorer who can basically have his coming move advertised on the JumboTron accompanied by P.A. guy Ryan Mill booming out to the crowd, ‘DUDE, HE’S GOING BACKHAND!’ and he’ll still put the puck where he wants.
That’s what I’m talking about. That’s why I place the touch we see from Sutter in a separate bracket. He’ll have to mix it up to continue his rise, as he points out, but it speaks volumes about his skill already.
“Brandon’s diligent and great on the details,” Crosby said, “but he’s also got a lot of talent that other teams have to respect out there. He’s really good with the puck. And actually, he just looks like he’s getting stronger and stronger all the time.”
Mike Johnston and staff have seen this and, in one of many commendable moves during this smart-looking 2-0 start, have Sutter centering the second line while Malkin works to regain his legs at right wing after a lost preseason. It won’t last — Johnston hinted as much Wednesday when only guaranteeing Malkin will stay on the wing two more games — nor should it, at least not regarding Malkin. He’s a born center, and his speed up the middle, along with Crosby’s, is the centerpiece of Johnston’s breakout.
But that doesn’t mean Sutter will get buried, from what I understand. If anything, he’s only fortified his standing with the coaches through this early trial.
“We know what Brandon can do,” Johnston said.
“We’re not putting any limitations on him,” Rick Tocchet said.
You mean like handcuffing him to that night’s Wilkes-Barre Express?
Hey, terrific. Because Sutter, if you ask me, is primed for a continuation of those playoffs and perhaps something more. I’ll repeat that he’s got the talent, and I’ll add that he’s only now embarking on his peak years at age 25, but I’ll also toss in the intangibles that he’s got the will and, maybe just as important, the awareness.
“You have to trust your own ability, and I feel like I’m there,” Sutter said. “Even with a phenomenal player like Geno and trying to read off all the things he can do, you can’t get caught watching him. You still have to make your own play, take your own shot. Sometimes, that’s just best.”
It was at this point in the interview that the other linemate, Pascal Dupuis, within easy earshot at the next stall, had enough and playfully interjected, “Or you can pass to me.”
“Right,” Sutter came back, not skipping a beat. “I’ll just pass to Duper.”
It’s no joke that Johnston will face his first trying decision as an NHL coach when Malkin moves back. Sutter’s skills aren’t to be wasted on a wing, either. And with Beau Bennett perpetually watching from the press box, it’s hard to manufacture a third line with enough hands to support Sutter. What’s more, with Patric Hornqvist going all machine-gun on goaltenders so far, he’ll have the inside track on right-handed power-play trigger for the foreseeable future.
At the same time, here’s hoping answers are found, possibly creative ones. Because the very last thing an organization that’s nearly bankrupt of young forwards can afford is to stymie one who’s visibly set to show his stuff.
And to that point, yes, I did ask Sutter again Wednesday to revisit what clicked for him last spring, whether it was discovered in Columbus, New York or even earlier.
“In all honesty, I think it started with just playing well, as simple as that sounds,” he replied after a moment to rewind. “I was doing good things, making the right decisions on all parts of the rink, and it just started to add up. I don’t think I made up my mind or anything like that. It started right out there on the ice and …”
Awesome article. Glad to see him grow confidence and not always just defer to Geno (or Sid) but still has the awareness to make a play to him. Takes pressure off them, helps the team.
Interesting stuff DK. Always a pleasure to hear from a young guy who displays a humble brand of self-assured confidence. Here's hoping Johnston can find a way to put him in a position to flourish after Geno makes the move back. Hard to complain about having too many good centers
Sutter aside for a moment, who would have thought Scuderi's best value to the club would be in the form of a pundit, offering great perspective and opinion? Sutter is refreshing, unpretentious and quiet. Only pressure is his last name.
Hard worker, has skills and RH shot is important. If the GM does anything in his tenure here, draft and develop young wingers. Shero left the shelf very slim and his "plan" to trade young defensemen is flawed. Teams don't give up good young wingers that easy.Bennett is key here.
Although it wasn't the focus of the article, my favorite line was "Or you could just pass to me." The loss of Duper last year was severely underestimated. Is Sutter now > Staal. Probably not, but at least we can now make an argument. Great stuff DK.
The Hurricanes' version of Beau, right? Really unfortunate for Jordan.
Stillson
10-16-2014, 8:21 am
Good stuff. Not sure I'm as sold on Sutter's inevitable breakout as DK, but give him competent wingers (Jokinen, Jussi for example) and he can be really effective. Analytics guys are down on him in general, but he's shown he can play well with actual NHL line mates.
Those guys also thought Tyler Kennedy was Gordie Howe.
YouMeAndDupuis
10-16-2014, 12:00 pm
I think Sutter will always be a complimentary player rather than one that raises up his linemates. And he's NOT a shutdown 3rd line center like Staal. I think top 6 wing may be the best spot for him long term to utilize his skill set. (plus - he had success on wing in Carolina)
DJ
10-16-2014, 8:28 am
Sid: “And actually, he just looks like he’s getting stronger and stronger all the time.”
.
Yes! THE only thing Sutter really needed. Loved the kid from Day 1.
He is a solid 3 on this team and will be unless something happens to Sid or Geno. Will that be enough for him in a few years, probably not. He will probably want out like Jordo. I hope he continues to get better, they give him steady NHL wingers and he lifts the cup soon.
When did Sutter play the Flyers? The Pens imploded against the Flyers in 2011-2012 when Staal was on the team. In 2012-2013, it was Isles, Sens, and Bs. Last year, BJs and Rags.
Perhaps a regular season game?
thank your lucky stars Shero was turned down on trading a combo of Sutter, Pouliot or Bennett and a number 1 (kapanen) the Pens pick for a third line center. Plus no way Neal is traded as well by Ray. Sometimes results matter, except for the Rooneys..
You had to remind me? Sounded like a couple guys in organization made a desperate plea or Shero would have pulled trigger on Kesler.
Dejan Kovacevic
10-16-2014, 11:20 am
There are almost always general posts of some kind near the top on any given day where other topics easily can be discussed. Really hope, out of respect to readers discussing a one-sport column, that other topics can move there. Just kills the conversation. Thanks.
If anyone has a better solution, email me at [email protected]. But I can tell you it's long been the No. 1 complaint I've gotten re: commenting threads.
Dejan Kovacevic
10-16-2014, 11:27 am
HM: Couldn't care less if it's critical or whatever. Silly thing to say. Just ask that it doesn't go under a sport-specific piece and kill the conversation. Same goes for selling Steelers gear, which is what I think the other one was.
Dejan Kovacevic
10-16-2014, 2:01 pm
I've never heard of anyone who enjoys extra scrolling.
Stillson
10-16-2014, 2:34 pm
Yeah, but scrolling is the worst. It's a better user experience the less you have to scroll, so getting rid of the garbage is always a plus.
Melissa Hart
10-16-2014, 11:47 am
First, DK with limited time, thanks for policing the thread.
Love this column. Suttsy's a good team guy & leader-not complaining about the revolving door of substandard wingers, & awful trade rumors. He's been so clutch & fun to watch! Crushed Lundqvist at MSG last year.
No, never wrote about it. I'd have to look more into it, to be honest.
Robert
10-16-2014, 11:57 am
Big fan of Sutter. Like DK said, Malkin will be moved back to 2nd-C, but I'd stick with the current lines as long as Geno's willing. Winning is winning. WHEN the move is made, I like Downie moved up w/ 9 & 71, Spaling moved up w/ Sutter & Comeau, and Goc to 4th-C. JMO
I like Tlusty and Frolik as potential mid tier targets. And just for kicks, the unlikely pure hockey trades I like - Martin to LA for J. Williams. Sutter to EDM for Perron. Scuderi to NYI for Clutterbuck.
Glad you said unlikely. I don't think we could give Scuds away right now, even for a bag of used pucks. He would have to be included as part of a bigger package, and we'd probably have to eat some salary as well. His is a contract I think we're stuck with for the duration.
Playoffs by 2012
10-16-2014, 12:21 pm
I now have a client in Winnipeg. This seemed like the proper forum to make this announcement.
Great read DK! You could really see the growth of Sutter last year and the players couldn't say enough about his leadership and knowledge of the game. Great to see it all coming together, lets just hope he can maintain some line-mates for a majority of the year.
DK, you may be to young to remember Joe Pine show. He was a wack job but was hilarious. My point is he had a beef box segment where folks would come from the audience and talk. Maybe a beef box column or separate topic pick on the menu may cover those who wish to opine.
Here's something puzzling that maybe the hockey fanatics can answer. About 10% of the population is left handed. If 90% of the population is right handed, why the heck are there so many left handed shots and so few righties in the NHL?
To be honest, I don't think it's a good idea to trade for a guy with an expiring contract. I'd much rather like to see a hockey trade. COL, EDM, and DAL all have a strong fwd group and questions on defense. See if something can be worked out.
What if we added a forum, like an independent-yet-attached discussion forum? And that, in turn, limited the columns/etc. to discussion of the contents 'n at?
Wow, working too much and missed a lot. I'm afraid I've been one of the offenders who post off-topic. Honestly, after we've batted one subject around a while, I've gotten bored. I'll try to behave....
October 16, 2014
Column: Penguins can’t waste Sutter’s ascent
by Dejan Kovacevic • Columns • Penguins
PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION — ALEX MESSMER
DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
It was April 28, and Brandon Sutter sat pretty much stone-faced at his stall in Columbus’ cramped visitors’ locker room. Unlaced his skates. Exchanged a couple pleasantries with teammates. Not much else. And not much different, really, than any of his fellow Penguins, all locked in a drop-dead-serious Stanley Cup playoff series at the time.
But, man, where it concerned Sutter specifically, it was nothing less than diametrically different than a year earlier on Long Island.
The chin was up, not sunk at the chest.
The eyes were focused, not glazed.
“It’s not easy the first time you do anything,” he’d tell me that morning after I failed to find a polite way to ask what had gotten into him since essentially folding in 2013. “I didn’t really get that playoff experience when I played in Carolina, so that was my first. But the people I talked to after that just told me to be myself, to play my game. Don’t try to do more. So when I got to playing well late in this season, that’s what I wanted to have as my mindset. Just keep going.”
Just keep going?
Uh-uh, sorry, there had to have been something else, something more. Because what played out in that postseason wasn’t just Sutter’s five goals in 13 games or team-best plus-7 rating. It was that Sutter … well, Rob Scuderi described it beautifully Wednesday at Consol Energy Center: “He was our best overall forward in the playoffs.”
No doubt. And this on a team with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin. And while Sutter was saddled on a third line that, over the 2013-14 season and postseason, saw 19 different linemates, some of them AHL farmhands.
“Not to take anything away from other guys,” Scuderi continued, “but when you just look at his overall body of work in each of the games, the way he was able to get the puck into the zone, dominate physically, recapture pucks we dumped in, all the smart plays, all the things he does does on the penalty kill … all the things a team needs to win at the big moments. I thought he delivered.”
Wait, he’s not done yet.
“In spades.”
OK, that’s more like it.
So now, I’ll ask again, especially since Sutter will enter tonight’s meeting with the visiting Stars — 7:08 p.m. faceoff — with all that swagger and all those spades very much intact: What happened?
Well, let’s start with the obvious: He’s talented.
It’s not just that Sutter comes with the pedigree of being the 11th overall pick or that every GM that’s employed him — Jim Rutherford, then Ray Shero, now Rutherford — has been adamant that there’s more to him than two-way tenacity.
Nor is it that Sutter has scored a respectable 79 goals in 417 NHL games with a healthy 10.2 shooting percentage to illlustrate a soft touch.
No, it’s the how that gets me.
Check out, please, this rather fun discussion we had Wednesday:
Ordinary scorers will find ways to score, usually lots of them because they have to keep goaltenders guessing. Rare is the scorer who can basically have his coming move advertised on the JumboTron accompanied by P.A. guy Ryan Mill booming out to the crowd, ‘DUDE, HE’S GOING BACKHAND!’ and he’ll still put the puck where he wants.
That’s what I’m talking about. That’s why I place the touch we see from Sutter in a separate bracket. He’ll have to mix it up to continue his rise, as he points out, but it speaks volumes about his skill already.
“Brandon’s diligent and great on the details,” Crosby said, “but he’s also got a lot of talent that other teams have to respect out there. He’s really good with the puck. And actually, he just looks like he’s getting stronger and stronger all the time.”
Mike Johnston and staff have seen this and, in one of many commendable moves during this smart-looking 2-0 start, have Sutter centering the second line while Malkin works to regain his legs at right wing after a lost preseason. It won’t last — Johnston hinted as much Wednesday when only guaranteeing Malkin will stay on the wing two more games — nor should it, at least not regarding Malkin. He’s a born center, and his speed up the middle, along with Crosby’s, is the centerpiece of Johnston’s breakout.
But that doesn’t mean Sutter will get buried, from what I understand. If anything, he’s only fortified his standing with the coaches through this early trial.
“We know what Brandon can do,” Johnston said.
“We’re not putting any limitations on him,” Rick Tocchet said.
You mean like handcuffing him to that night’s Wilkes-Barre Express?
Hey, terrific. Because Sutter, if you ask me, is primed for a continuation of those playoffs and perhaps something more. I’ll repeat that he’s got the talent, and I’ll add that he’s only now embarking on his peak years at age 25, but I’ll also toss in the intangibles that he’s got the will and, maybe just as important, the awareness.
“You have to trust your own ability, and I feel like I’m there,” Sutter said. “Even with a phenomenal player like Geno and trying to read off all the things he can do, you can’t get caught watching him. You still have to make your own play, take your own shot. Sometimes, that’s just best.”
It was at this point in the interview that the other linemate, Pascal Dupuis, within easy earshot at the next stall, had enough and playfully interjected, “Or you can pass to me.”
“Right,” Sutter came back, not skipping a beat. “I’ll just pass to Duper.”
It’s no joke that Johnston will face his first trying decision as an NHL coach when Malkin moves back. Sutter’s skills aren’t to be wasted on a wing, either. And with Beau Bennett perpetually watching from the press box, it’s hard to manufacture a third line with enough hands to support Sutter. What’s more, with Patric Hornqvist going all machine-gun on goaltenders so far, he’ll have the inside track on right-handed power-play trigger for the foreseeable future.
At the same time, here’s hoping answers are found, possibly creative ones. Because the very last thing an organization that’s nearly bankrupt of young forwards can afford is to stymie one who’s visibly set to show his stuff.
And to that point, yes, I did ask Sutter again Wednesday to revisit what clicked for him last spring, whether it was discovered in Columbus, New York or even earlier.
“In all honesty, I think it started with just playing well, as simple as that sounds,” he replied after a moment to rewind. “I was doing good things, making the right decisions on all parts of the rink, and it just started to add up. I don’t think I made up my mind or anything like that. It started right out there on the ice and …”
And?
“And it’s building. It is.”