The Winnipeg Jets took Lukas Sutter with the 39th overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, but they won’t even give him an entry-level contract. Instead, he will try his luck again in the 2014 draft.
Sutter had 59 points and 165 penalty minutes in 70 WHL games in 2011-12, but he dipped to just 24 points the following season and had 23 points in 45 contests in 2013-14 before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery.
He is the son of former NHL forward Rich Sutter, who had 149 goals, 315 points, and 1,411 penalty minutes in 874 career games.
“Development takes on different forms and we have to make some tough calls at different points and times. It certainly was a very difficult decision to move past Lukas,” Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff told the Winnipeg Sun. “Lukas is a fine young hockey player. Unfortunately, he ran into some injuries and things like that and we wish him all the best.”