Former top-15 pick announces retirement from NHL after Oilers release

Sutter, 34, issued the following statement through the Oilers website:

“I’m grateful for the opportunity that Ken, Jay and the Oilers organization have provided to me the past few weeks. You need to be 100 percent healthy to compete in the NHL, and although my health continues to improve, in consideration of my health and family, I am officially retiring from hockey.

Thank you to the Oilers, Canucks, Penguins and Hurricanes, as well as all my past coaches, trainers and teammates for the incredible experiences throughout my 13 seasons in the NHL.“

Sutter had played three preseason games for the Oilers, with one assist in that span coming in the 5-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, his former team. Sutter also finished with a -1 rating, two penalty minutes, one hit and five shots in those three games.

Sutter retires after 13 seasons in the NHL with the Canucks, Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes. He totaled 152 goals, 137 assists and 289 points in 770 regular season games, as well as nine goals, nine assists and 18 points in 50 playoff games.

Sutter was drafted 11th overall by the Hurricanes in the 2007 NHL Draft and made his professional debut a year later for the Canes. He spent four seasons with the franchise before he was dealt to the Penguins in 2012 along with Brian Dumoulin and the eighth overall pick in the draft (which would become Derrick Pouliot) in exchange for Jordan Staal.

Sutter then spent three seasons in Pittsburgh before he was traded to the Canucks along with a third-round pick (which eventually became William Lockwood) in exchange for Nick Bonino, Adam Clendening and a second-round selection (that became Filip Gustavsson) during the 2015 offseason. Sutter spent his final six seasons in Vancouver before the Canucks let him walk to free agency in 2021. He failed to garner any NHL interest in the two years before his PTO with the Oilers.