Riley Sutter

July 2023 – After managing to remain healthy for the whole season, Sutter was a good energy line player for the Bears as they went on to win the Calder Cup. He played in all 20 AHL games, and managed 69 total regular season games, with healthy scratches being the reason he missed. After playing 89 over the past three seasons, this was obviously a great break for him. Sutter also earned himself a one-year, two-way contract by the Capitals that should see him return to Hershey for a majority of the year. Unfortunately for Sutter, thanks to injuries, he will likely only ever top out as a bottom-six AHL player, but that is not to say he cannot still get in a few NHL games. He is relentless on the forecheck, and knows how to create havoc in the offensive zone, he is also good in his own end. That can all lead up to him maybe getting a call up if the Capitals want a bottom line forward to fill in at the NHL level due to an injury. Pat Quinn

January 2023 – Sutter has played in 35 of the Bears’ 37 games so far this season, and that is a huge win for him. He also only has six points as he is a bottom six AHL player. As long as he is healthy he may get a call up to the NHL to play on the bottom line, but do not expect much production outside of hits and blocked shots in a depth role. It is unknown if he will remain in the Capitals system after this season, but he is a good AHL soldier so he likely has a role. Pat Quinn

September 2022 – Sutter managed to miss the remainder of the season after March 13 due, again to injury. So far in his AHL career he has strung together seasons of 25, 25, and 39 games as he cannot stay healthy. All of the injuries has really stagnated him as a prospect and as of now he seems to just be a depth AHL player who can play a bottom six role. Pat Quinn

January 2022 – Sutter again has had injury troubles missing the start of the AHL season, from October to the first week of November, and then missing all of December. He has just four points in the 18 games he has played in but he is just a bottom six player. He may get a call up in the future on an NHL team for a bottom line role as he is a bottom six player. Pat Quinn

May 2021 – Sutter was able to match his total games played from the previous season at 25, which means he still missed games but not as many. There were also a couple healthy scratches in between games as well, but he only missed games in February and managed to play out March, April and May. Also, Sutter more than doubled his point total, however he only went from four points to nine, and all of those were assists. Sutter is likely destined for being an NHL/AHL tweener for bottom line depth.  Pat Quinn

January 2021 – Sutter needs to be healthy to have an impact in the 2020-2021 season or risk being passed on the depth chart by other prospects.  Pat Quinn

March 2020 – Coming back in late November Sutter did not get hurt for the remainder of Hershey’s season before it was cancelled and that is a positive. The negative was that he routinely was scratched and tended to only play one out of every three AHL games to finish the season, and in that he was routinely in the bottom six. He finished with four points, 13 shots, no PIMs in 25 games. He is a good two-way player but if he wants a shot at the NHL he will need to do a lot more. Pat Quinn

December 2019 – Sutter was finally healthy enough to be able to play in the AHL so the Capitals sent him to the Bears mid November. He has so far only played in four games, where he has registered an assist, but he is only seeing time on the bottom two lines. The Bears roster is full of AHL vets as the young players rarely get a lot of ice time, unfortunately for the Bears no one is also scoring. It is a tough time to gauge Bears prospects statistically. In viewings of Sutter he is fine for a grinder, but I still have no idea how or what he offensive ceiling can be outside of “bottom line NHL player”. Pat Quinn

September 2019 – Sutter was injured during the first game of the 2019 Prospect Showcase and has been rehabbing his injury to start the season. He will go down to Hershey when he is healthy enough to play. It is tough to see injuries still follow Sutter in to the next stage of his career. Pat Quinn

June 2019 – It is unknown how Sutter’s offensive game will pan out in the AHL when it never really popped out in the WHL. He is a smart, tough, two-way Sutter style player but can he be one that can play in the top six in the NHL. The answer is likely no but he will be one to monitor to see if he can pan out. Pat Quinn

May 2019 – Sutter, in his fourth WHL season, managed to finally get over a point per game pace. The problem was that it was in 38 games as Sutter dealt with injury issues, missing 37 straight games, and only managed to get in three playoff games for the Everett Silvertips before being eliminated. It is likely that Sutter will join the Hershey Bears next season as he looks to build a solid professional game. Pat Quinn