The Washington Capitals have re-signed forward prospect Riley Sutter to a one-year, two-way contract carrying a $775k AAV and a $90k AHL salary.
Sutter was a restricted free agent without any arbitration rights, meaning the overwhelming likelihood was always that he’d be back with the organization that drafted him 93rd overall in 2018, and now today’s announcement confirms it.
The versatile 23-year-old forward is coming off a fourth consecutive season playing with the AHL’s Hershey Bears, and this one was his most productive yet. He set a career-high with 12 points in 69 games, and he even had a big moment in the playoffs scoring the overtime winner in Game Three of the Calder Cup Finals. That goal secured a crucial win that helped turn the tide of the series and eventually lead to a Calder Cup Championship for Hershey.
Sutter is a six-foot-four, 204-pound winger who plays a hard-nosed physical game and serves as a bottom-six defensive forward for Hershey head coach Todd Nelson. Seeing as the offensive production he managed in the WHL has almost completely evaporated at the pro level, it’s not easy to imagine Sutter as a contender for an NHL call-up anytime soon.
But with his extension, he’ll get another year in Hershey and another season to develop his game and potentially make a push for an even greater role in the Bears’ lineup.