The Edmonton Oilers make a Major Addition

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Joshua Deeds
September 23, 2023 (0:29)

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The Edmonton Oilers have recently signed a PTO with Brandon Sutter, an NHL veteran with 770 games under his belt.

Much like he did previously in summer hockey leagues in Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Sutter will have to rely on skill and effort to catch the coaches' attention.

Brandon Sutter is a 770-game NHL vet on a PTO, trying to catch the coach's eye the way he did at those summer hockey schools back in Sylvan Lake, Alta., when he was a kid.
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checks in to see how it's going.

Since the Sutters have built a dynasty in hockey over the past four decades, seeing them during training camp in September is just something to expect.

«The hardest part was figuring out for the longest time what was actually wrong. Once I got that kind of narrowed down, I was able to work through it. It just took a long time to get there,» says Sutter, who started feeling normal only in the past six or eight months.

Finally, he got his breath back, after «a horrible shortness of breath for about two years.»

«This summer I said: �In July I'm going to start skating like I normally would for a normal season.' After about three or four weeks, I was pretty confident. Called my agent and said, �Start making some calls.'»

Sutter, however, has been off the ice for the past two years because of long-covid.

Sutter arrives with the goal of playing for the Edmonton Oilers, something that has never happened before in his family.

Only Duane Sutter worked there as a scout, but the rest of his family have never seen their names on Oilers' equipment.

During the preseason, Sutter will be evaluated for the 4th line center position in Edmonton, and he hopes to make the PTO worthwhile.

Holland is hoping Sutter can regain his form and play like he did when he was 28 or 29, but the center will have a chance to prove he is the defensive-focused, face-off winner the team needs, with a right-handed shot.