CALGARY — Calgary Flames GM Darryl Sutter traded his son Brett to the Carolina Hurricanes one week after he was charged with assault outside an Arizona bar.
The 23-year-old forward and defenceman Ian White were shipped to the Hurricanes on Wednesday in exchange for defenceman Anton Babchuk and winger Tom Kostopoulos.
Brett Sutter issued a public apology after his arrest. He is alleged to have punched a cab driver last week in a drunken altercation following the team’s rookie dinner.
The move provides Calgary with a little bit of salary cap relief. Babchuk (US$1.4 million) and Kostopoulos ($950,000) are earning less than White, who is on a one-year contract that pays him $2,999,995.
Sutter has a two-way deal and was sent to the AHL on Monday.
If he gets called up by Carolina, he’ll be joining another family member. Cousin Brandon Sutter is an alternate captain with the Hurricanes.
Brett Sutter was charged with misdemeanour assault in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Nov. 10. Police say he was drunk to the point of slurring his words and had been thrown out of a bar for being “disorderly and extremely intoxicated” when he hit a cab driver in the mouth with a closed fist.
The cabbie suffered a cut to the inside of his mouth and was spitting blood, but did not lose any teeth.
Sutter spent most of the season in depth role with the Flames. He had one assist in four games — getting scratched 12 times before being sent to the AHL.