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| Name: Ryan Suter |
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| Position: D |
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| Shoots: Left |
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| Height: 6-1 |
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| Weight: 188 lbs |
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| Birthdate: 1985-01-21 |
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| Hometown: Madison, Wisconsin |
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| Acquired: 1st Round (7th overall), 2003 Draft |
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Ryan Suter
Profile Contributed By: DJ Powers
Suter began his junior career playing for Culver Academy and scored 13 goals, 32 assists for 45 points playing for Culver Academy (Carmel, Ind.). Suter moved on to the US National Team Development Program for the 2001-02 season where he scored 39 points in 70 games including 16 points in 19 international contests. In 2002-03 Suter again played for the USNTDP placing fifth on the team in scoring with 27 points in 47 games and led the team in penalty minutes. Suter was then drafted 7th overall by Nashville in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. Suter attended the University of Wisconsin in 2003-04 and tied for third in team scoring with 19 points in 39 games. Led Wisconsin with +17 rating. Suter is a three time gold medalist in international play, winning gold at 2002 Under 17 World Challenge, 2002 Under 18 World Championships and most recently a gold at the 2004 World Junior Championships. His awards list is many including being named to the All-WCHA third
team and rookie team for the 2003-04 season. Suter earned Best
Defenseman honors at the 2002 World Under-18 Championships. Won Bob
Johnson Award in 2002-03, given annually to the U.S. players who excel
in international competition Earned Best Defenseman award at the 2001
Four Nations tournament in the Czech Republic. |
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| Talent Analysis The University of Wisconsin freshman defenseman has already made an impact on his team. What Suter brings is the entire package. He is not a one-dimensional player by any means. Some are already comparing him to his legendary uncle Gary Suter early on in his NHL career. Ryan is an excellent skater who moves fluidly with big strides. He possesses excellent puck-handling skills. He looks just as comfortable making the soft pass as he does firing a wicked slapshot from the blueline. But the attribute that likely makes him stand out the most is his uncanny ability to read plays and sense of anticipation. He can follow plays as they develop rather easily. His transition game, while slow at times, is also quite good. So often freshmen defensemen make mistakes such as taking unnecessary penalties and losing opposing forwards easily on one-on-one situations that take a while to correct. While Suter is still in the developmental stage, rarely does he make these mistakes that plague many other freshmen defensemen. Another factor of Suter’s game is his physical play. Suter doesn’t shy away from the rough stuff. His hits can be brutal but more often than not, they are also clean hits. He usually shows good composure under pressure. Once in a great while he can be provoked into getting into a confrontation with an opposing player, but whenever possible prefers to avoid it. This doesn’t necessarily mean he will or always does back down. He’ll stand up to the other players, but he’s also smart enough not to take an unnecessary penalty that would jeopardize his team, especially if they have a lead in the game. One area of his game that Suter has yet to really bring to the forefront is his offensive abilities. Thus far into the Wisconsin Badgers regular season, he has no goals and two assists. He’s a regular point man on the Badgers power play unit and is exceptional in his tape-to-tape passes and finding the open man. Suter is not a player who will fire the puck at the net just for the sake of firing the puck. He likes to pick his spots and does so rather carefully, almost to a fault. However, whenever opportunity presents itself, he seizes it, although has yet to succeed in getting the goal. But it is not due to a lack of trying. |
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| Future With continued development and maturity, it won’t be a matter of if Ryan Suter makes the NHL but rather when. His potential to be a bonafide NHL-caliber player is unquestioned. |
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Stats Season Team League GP G A PTS PIM 2001-02 Nat U-17 USA 34 2 10 12 75 2002-03 Nat U-18 USA 47 8 19 27 114 2003-04 Wisconsin WCHA 39 3 16 19 93 |
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Profile Last Updated: 2004-07-19 |