2018-19 Season Review and Preview: Brandon Sutter

Among the hot topics of the Jim Benning has been the case of Brandon Sutter. Acquired in 2016 for centre Nick Bonino and a 2nd round draft pick, and dubbed a “foundational player” by Benning, the expectations were high. For the first several years, those were largely not met (save for the exception of maybe the 2016-17 campaign, where he played largely out of his depth in the top six but scored a respectable 34 points).

The 2018-19 was the season that many Canucks fans forgot about Sutter. Due to injury, he played just 26 games. In those 26 contests, he scored just four goals and six points. The raw production could perhaps be ignored; what couldn’t was the decline in overall ability. His…