Canucks sign centre Pius Suter

The Vancouver Canucks have signed centre Pius Suter of Zurich, Switzerland to a two-year contract worth $1.6 million according to Rogers Sportsnet on Friday. Suter joins his third National Hockey League team as he previously played one season with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2020-21, and two seasons with the Detroit Red Wings from 2021 to 2023.

2022-23 NHL Statistics

Suter played in 79 games this past season with the Red Wings. He had 14 goals and 10 assists for 24 points. Suter was a -3 with six penalty minutes, two shorthanded goals, one game-winning goal, 106 shots on goal, 214 faceoff wins, 37 blocked shots, 39 hits, 31 takeaways, and 15 giveaways.

Shorthanded Goals

Suter’s shorthanded goals came in Red Wings wins. The first shorthanded goal came on November 5, 2022 in a 3-0 Detroit Red Wings win over the New York Islanders. Suter scored from Adam Erne of New Haven, Connecticut and Moritz Seider of Zell, Germany at 12:51 of the second period which put the Red Wings up 2-0 at the time. Suter then scored an unassisted shorthanded goal in a 3-1 Red Wings win over the Washington Capitals on February 21, 2023. It was also the only game-winning goal Suter had during the season, and one of two unassisted goals Suter had during the game.

Prior to this past season, Suter had only scored one shorthanded goal. That came in a 6-2 Red Wings win over the Sn Jose Sharks on January 4, 2022. Suter once again scored unassisted at 2:04 of the second period, and put the Red Wings up 2-0 at the time.

Career Statistics

Suter has 43 goals and 44 assists for 87 points in 216 games with the Blackhawks and Red Wings. He was a -19 with 42 penalty minutes, six power-play points (one power-play goal and five power-play assists), three shorthanded points, seven game-winning goals, 384 shots on goal, 975 faceoff wins, 108 blocked shots, 91 hits, 104 takeaways, and 70 giveaways.

Suter’s power-play goal came as a rookie with the Blackhawks on January 24, 2021. Interestingly, it came on a day that Suter had a hat trick as Chicago beat Detroit 6-2.