Junior

Sutter played four Western Hockey League (WHL) seasons with the Kootenay Ice and Red Deer Rebels between 2003 and 2007. During his time in Red Deer, he played with his cousin Brandon, and was coached by his uncle Brent Sutter.^[2] He was the Rebels' team captain in his final season of junior in 2006–07,^[3] and posted a career high 28 goals.^[4]

Professional

Sutter was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the sixth round (179th overall) of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. At the time his father Darryl Sutter was the General manager of the Flames.

He turned professional in 2007–08. Sutter was one of the Flames' final cuts prior to the season,^[5] and was assigned to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Quad City Flames, where he recorded four goals and ten points in 75 games.^[6] Sutter earned more ice time throughout the season as he adapted to the speed of the professional game.^[5] Sutter returned to Quad City for the start of the 2008–09 AHL season. He recorded one goal and six assists in 28 games prior to joining the Flames.^[7]

Sutter was recalled by the Flames on December 22, 2008 from Quad City, in a move that generated interest as his father was the Flames general manager. "Everybody makes a big deal about his last name, but there's been lots (of Sutters) before him and will be ones after him," Darryl Sutter said.^[8] The Flames stated that he was recalled on merit, and to fill a specific role with the team.^[4] He made his NHL debut on December 23, 2008 against the Anaheim Ducks, and scored a goal while being named the game's third star.^[9][10] Sutter played three games with the Flames before being returned to Quad City.^{[citation needed]}

Though he spent the majority of 2009–10 with the Abbotsford Heat of the AHL, Sutter appeared in ten NHL games with the Flames that season.^[11] He stuck with the Flames out of training camp as an extra forward to begin the 2010–11 NHL season; however he was a healthy scratch for most games, dressing for only 4 of the Flames' first 16 games.^[12] On November 11, he was arrested in Scottsdale, Arizona after allegedly punching a cab driver outside of a bar the night before the Flames' were to play the Phoenix Coyotes.^[13][14] Less than a week later, he and Ian White were traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for Anton Babchuk and Tom Kostopoulos.^[15]

Immediately following his trade from Calgary to Carolina, Sutter was assigned to the Hurricanes' top AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers for the remainder of the season.^[16] In the following 2011–12 season, on October 6, 2011 he was named the Checkers team captain. Sutter would play the majority of his four-year tenure with the Hurricanes with the Checkers.^{[citation needed]}

Sutter was signed as a free agent by the Minnesota Wild on July 1, 2014 on a two-year, two-way contract.^[17]

During his second season within the Wild, Sutter was included in a trade deadline deal on February 29, 2016, to the Los Angeles Kings, coached by his father, and their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, in return for right winger Scott Sabourin.^[18]

Despite not being offered a contract with the Kings in the off-season, Sutter opted to remain in the organization by signing a one-year AHL deal with the Reign on July 1, 2016.^[19]

Sutter played seven seasons with the Ontario Reign, serving as captain for five years, before returning to his home province in Calgary, Alberta to sign an AHL contract as a free agent for the inaugural season of the Calgary Wranglers on August 3, 2022.^[20]