Ashton Sautner signed a three-year entry level contract with the Vancouver Canucks back on March 14, 2015, and the Flin Flon, Manitoba native finally got his big break on Sunday night when the Canucks visited the Dallas Stars.
With it being the 23-year-old’s NHL debut and all, his teammates didn’t let him off the hook and made sure to give him a proper welcoming by hiding his helmet from him for the pre-game warm-ups.
The Canucks’ equipment manager offered to return the former Edmonton Oil Kings captain’s helmet during the warm-ups but he decided to fully dedicate himself to the rookie pre-game treatment. Of course, his teammates also made sure to get the night started by sending him out for the routine rookie solo lap.
Sautner got just under 13 minutes of ice-time in his NHL debut and finished with an even rating, two hits and two blocks in the Canucks’ 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars.
The undrafted defenceman has appeared in 59 games for the Utica Comets this season and has three goals and nine assists for 12 points to go along with 55 penalty minutes and a plus-9 rating.
(H/T Twitter/Canucks)
