Pius Suter

Pius Suter (born 24 May 1996 in Wallisellen, Zurich) is a Swiss professional ice hockey forward for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Pius Suter
Suter in 2017
Born (1996-05-24) 24 May 1996
Zürich, Switzerland
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 176 lb (80 kg; 12 st 8 lb)
Position Forward
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Chicago Blackhawks
ZSC Lions
National team   Switzerland
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2015–present

Playing career

Suter played as a youth in the junior program of the ZSC Lions before opting to play major junior hockey in North America with the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) after his selection in the CHL Import Draft in 2013. Suter helped contribute with 24 points in 66 games as Guelph were crowned OHL champions. At the completion of his second season with the Storm in 2014–15, Suter recorded a break-out season in posting over a point-per-game average with 72 in just 61 games with Guelph.

At the end of his junior career, Suter opted to pursue his professional career with the ZSC Lions. In the 2016–17 season, Suter was signed to a one-year contract extension through 2018 on 20 December 2016.[1]

On 26 August 2017, Suter scored a CHL record of 4 goals with the Lions in an 11–1 blowout win against French team, Rapaces de Gap.[2]

Suter was invited to the 2017 Ottawa Senators rookie camp in September, forcing him to miss the start of the 2017–18 season.[3] On his return, Suter would go on to be a part of the ZSC Lions NL championship winning team, leading the team in assists for the season.[4][5]

Prior to the start of the 2018–19 season, the ZSC Lions announced that Suter had been included in the training camp roster for the New York Islanders.[6] Returning to ZSC after failing to gain a contract with the Islanders, on 28 November 2018, Suter agreed to an early four-year contract extension with the Lions through the 2022–23 season.

Suter finished the 2019–20 season as the league's PostFinance Top Scorer with 53 points, including 30 goals, in 50 regular season games. He was also named MVP of the regular season.[7] On 13 July 2020, Suter announced he was leaving the NL and the ZSC Lions, using his exit-clause in his contract in order to pursue his career in North America and the NHL.[8]

On 16 July 2020, Suter was signed as an undrafted free agent to a one-year, entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks.[9] With the 2020–21 North American season set to be delayed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Suter remained in Switzerland and was loaned by the Blackhawks to return to ZSC Lions' affiliate, the GCK Lions of the Swiss League, on 9 September 2020.[10] On 4 November 2020, with the NHL future still uncertain, Suter officially returned to the ZSC Lions.

On 20 December 2020, after making six appearances with the Lions, Suter was recalled from loan by the Blackhawks.[11] Suter made his NHL debut with the Blackhawks on 13 January 2021 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Suter scored his first NHL goal, as well as his first career hat trick, on 24 January against Jonathan Bernier of the Detroit Red Wings.[12]

International play

Suter first represented Switzerland at the junior level at the 2013 IIHF World U18 Championships. He also featured for the Swiss at the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament and in two World Junior Championships in 2015, and 2016.

Suter was added to the Swiss national team at the senior level in preparation for the 2017 IIHF World Championship. He would make the final squad and make his full international debut in the round-robin stage.[13]

Suter was named as part of Switzerland's roster for the 2018 Winter Olympics, where he scored a hat-trick in the game against South Korea, also adding assists on Switzerland's lone goals in the game against the Czech Republic and the playoff game against Germany.[14]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2012–13 GCK Lions Elite Jr. A 33 12 9 21 14 9 3 0 3 4
2013–14 Guelph Storm OHL 66 9 15 24 16 20 6 2 8 2
2014–15 Guelph Storm OHL 61 43 29 72 28 9 3 2 5 10
2015–16 GCK Lions Elite Jr. A 1 0 1 1 2 6 3 5 8 4
2015–16 GCK Lions NLB 1 0 1 1 2 — — — — —
2015–16 ZSC Lions NLA 45 14 10 24 14 4 1 0 1 2
2016–17 ZSC Lions NLA 38 17 11 28 16 6 2 2 4 0
2017–18 ZSC Lions NL 36 11 28 39 12 18 5 6 11 8
2018–19 ZSC Lions NL 41 9 15 24 16 — — — — —
2019–20 ZSC Lions NL 50 30 23 53 16 — — — — —
2020–21 GCK Lions SL 6 2 3 5 4 — — — — —
2020–21 ZSC Lions NL 6 2 3 5 8 — — — — —
NL totals 216 83 90 173 82 28 8 8 16 10

International
Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2013 Switzerland WJC18 6th 5 3 0 3 4
2013 Switzerland IH18 6th 4 1 2 3 2
2015 Switzerland WJC 9th 6 2 0 2 2
2016 Switzerland WJC 9th 6 3 1 4 4
2017 Switzerland WC 6th 8 1 2 3 4
2018 Switzerland OG 10th 4 3 2 5 0
Junior totals 21 9 3 12 12
Senior totals 12 4 4 8 4

References
  1. "Lions extend contract of Pius Suter". ZSC Lions (in German). 20 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  2. "Pettersson's record 7 points lead Zurich to big win". Champions Hockey League. 26 August 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  3. "Ottawa Senators invite 23 players to 2017 rookie camp and tournament". Ottawa Senators. 28 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  4. "National League: Zurich est champion suisse pour la 9e fois!" (in French). Radio Télévision Suisse. 30 April 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  5. "ZSC Lions 2017–18 stats". Eliteprospects.com. 30 April 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  6. "Pius Suter im Camp der New York Islanders". ZSC Lions (in German). 5 September 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  7. "Pius Suter voted MVP of the regular season by his peers". swisshockeynews.ch. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  8. "Pius Suter moves to the NHL" (in German). ZSC Lions. 13 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  9. "Blackhawks sign Suter, Kalynuk and finalize Mitchell contract". Chicago Blackhawks. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  10. "Blackhawks loan Pius Suter". Chicago Blackhawks. 9 September 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  11. ZSC Lions (20 December 2020). "Pius Suter returns to Chicago" (in German). Twitter. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  12. @NHLBlackhawks (24 January 2021). "Congrats Pius Suter on your first NHL HAT TRICK!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. "2017 World Championship roster" (PDF). International Ice Hockey Federation. 5 May 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  14. "Suter has hat trick as Switzerland blanks South Korea 8-0". NBC. 17 February 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
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