In the 1983–84 season Sutter played 59 games due to injury while scoring 20 goals and 20 assists. Sutter missed a number of games after he was struck in the face by a deflected slapshot in a January 2 game against the Minnesota North Stars. Sutter's left eye was knocked from the socket and he was rushed to the hospital where he spent four days recovering before returning to Chicago for surgery, and was out for six weeks. While in the Minnesota hospital, Sutter was visited on a daily basis by North Stars' head coach Glen Sonmor who suffered a career ending injury under similar circumstances in 1954. The Black Hawks finished the season with a record of 30–42–8 and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in five games against the Minnesota North Stars.