Player Spotlight: Aidan Sutter
On a Saturday morning, before the Wheeling Nailers’ home opening game on November 1st, 2025, Olde City Sports Network sat down with rookie Aidan Sutter to talk about being in the WHL, turning pro, and what it takes to be a defenseman.
Before turning to the professional ranks, Sutter played for the WHL Everett Silvertips for four seasons, donning the “A” for one season. He dressed in 183 games and tallied 11 goals with 49 assists. He credits a lot of his success and attitude towards the game to his coaches that he was under there, Dennis Williams and Louis Mass. “My coach there was really good, but he was hard, so it kind of taught me just to keep going. There's always a light at the end of the tunnel kind of thing. It might be really, really hard right now. I might not see the reason, but there is an obvious one. You never know when that reason's going to come. So just stick to the course kind of thing. A lot of the stuff that I learned in Everett, I didn't realize I was learning until I got here, and then it's like, okay, if I didn't do any of that in Everett that I don't even know if I'd be here right now. So it's just kind of sticking with the course and just doing what you're told, as much as sometimes it might suck. There's always a reason.”
Playing with the Silvertips not only taught Sutter to go along with the flow and that everything happens for a reason, but he has also played with other players who have made it into the pro ranks, such as Jackson Berezowski, Ryan Hofer, Dustin Wolf, and Wyatte Wylie. Sutter credits a lot to watching Wylie’s leadership style on and off the ice. “So, for Bear and Hof, I played with those two guys. I played with Bear for four years, and in just my first year, we weren't too close. We were buddies, but it wasn't like we were hanging out always outside of the rink. Same with Hof, but then once we kind of got to know each other, it was like we were the three of us; you couldn't find us without each other. So those two, it was crazy to watch them just bury pucks and do what their best at, and now they're both American League guys. So it's really cool to see. With like Wyatte and Wolfy, I only played with Wyatte for one year, but he was 20 and I was only 17. So like to see some of his habits and stuff that he was forming, and he didn't come down until midway through September, because he was in the NHL. So I'd always hear Willie saying, Why Wylie wouldn't tolerate this and Why Wylie wouldn't and How do you think he would feel? And it's like, okay, who is this guy? Then he gets here, and it's like, okay. I don't even really know what I learned from him, but just watching him. I just want to do what he does. Then Wolfy, obviously. You just stand there and watch him. He's a totally different breed, that guy. It was pretty cool to be on his team. It's just like something you can look back on and see I scored on him in practice. So it's pretty cool to play with him.”
After his time in Everett, Sutter signed his first professional contract with the Florida Everblades, but eventually went back to college and attended the University of Calgary for a bit of time. When he signed with Florida, his ice time was limited, and he dressed in six games. “It was cool. I was really excited about it. I was deciding whether to go to school or go to Florida. It was just either anywhere in pro or go to school. When that opportunity came up, it was kind of the weather and stuff too, there. As much as the hockey is super polling, it was pretty exciting to go live down there, so it was really cool. My family was pretty excited, too.”
During his time with the University of Calgary, he dressed in a total of 10 games and tallied four assists. He talked about how being in college helped with his transition to the pro ranks, playing with Florida and now Wheeling.“It was good playing with older guys, but not, like, much older, so it was kind of almost my first taste of playing with some men, because I only played a couple games in Florida and my time was limited and whatnot, so being in Calgary was, it was pretty eye opening a little bit, like these guys can actually hit. You go into that league thinking it's kind of going to be more skilled or not as high intensity, but it's not. It was high intensity, high physicality, and stuff, so it kind of was pretty close to how we play here. The coaching staff there was obviously good. They had us on the ice for an hour and a half, two hours every day, four days a week, which is a lot different from here, but it prepared me for this, because if you can do those gates, you can do these gates.”
In hockey, you have your stay-at-home defenseman and your two-way defenseman. A stay-at-home defenseman plays a very defensive-minded game. The player who is like this is guarding his team’s end of the ice and is less concerned about scoring goals, and they typically play a more physical style. Sutter is a two-way defenseman, playing both offensively and defensively. “I'd say a two-way defenseman. I'd like to jump up in the rushing crate offense, but a lot of that comes from playing good deep. You can't defend in your own zone, you're never gonna get in the old zone. You know what I'd say, like a two-way defenseman. I like to play against the top lines to shut them down, but I also don't mind going out there. wheeling around with someone a little bit.”
Photo Credit: Wheeling Nailers
Being a defenseman, the position sees a lot more of the ice and can anticipate what could happen next. For Sutter, his head is always on a swivel during play and looking at what is behind him. “It's not so much knowing where the other guys are, exactly. It's kind of like knowing where they're not. So you look up ice, and you only see four guys; there's definitely a guy behind you to take a quick look. There's stuff like that, always keeping your head on a swivel, and then most of it comes from, like, your teammates talking and yelling and letting you know where guys are or letting you know where you should be. ‘Cause a lot of times you got to go to where somebody's gonna be, not where they are, right? So, yeah. I kind of just use your teammates and just head on the swivel all the time.”
Being motivated to play the game and love the game is what keeps players coming back to the rink day in and day out. Learning to make themselves better to get to the next level and take it in stride is what makes a player stand out above all else. “I love it. I love playing the game. I can't really see myself doing anything else, and I know that the amount of time that I play the game is pretty much solely based on my performance. So, every game I want to perform as best as I can, not only for myself, but for the rest of my teammates, too. We're all here for the same reason. We all want to play the game. We all love playing the game. And then also the other thing is my parents, as I get older, I realize how much they actually did sacrifice. When you're younger, you don't really understand. Now I understand, and it's like, okay, I just want to keep doing this as long as I can for them. Whatever comes after my hockey career comes and that'll be fine, but if I can play the game and tell I'm 28, 30, 35 for them, that's kind of why I want to do it.”
There is always a skill that a player can improve upon, whether it be skating, puck handling, reaction time, and the list goes on. Sutter touches on what he is working on in his position in order to help get to the next level. “The speed at which I move the puck. I try to improve on everything, but I think if I want to go to the next level, moving pucks to where they need to go just a half second quicker, instead of taking a step or two with my feet and then moving it, just have a better plan on where I'm going to put the puck before I get the puck. That was kind of the feedback I got in Wilkes at training camp, so I'm always working on that.”
Sutter has an interesting dream defensive partner pick. “NHL guys, I think it'd be cool with Zdeno Chara. You never really got to worry about touching you, and he's a legend, so I think that would be pretty cool to play with him.” Sutter was re-signed to an ECHL contract with Wheeling in July of this year. He has played in a total of 20 games for Wheeling and has one goal and two assists.
- Samantha Wismer/Olde City Sports Network
- Photo Credit: Wheeling Nailers
