The Montreal Canadiens are about to get acquainted with Nick Suzuki, and there’s a good chance they fall in love with the smooth-skating, high-scoring and ultra-disciplined forward who was acquired as part of the Max Pacioretty trade.
Nick Suzuki had a pretty cool end to the 2017-18 season. Once his Owen Sound Attack squad was knocked out of the OHL playoffs (and after a brief stint with AHL Chicago), he became a black ace for the Vegas Golden Knights, the team that drafted him 13th overall the previous summer. From the end of the San Jose series through to Vegas’ victory over Winnipeg in the conference final, Suzuki got a chance to skate with the pros and see just how fast the Vegas pace was (even in practice).
“I got to go for two weeks during the playoffs and it was a great experience to see all the games and how crazy the fans are,” Suzuki said. “It was a lot of fun.”
Now, Suzuki’s future will play out in front of another set of crazy fans.
Thanks to the deal that made Max Pacioretty a Golden Knight, Suzuki is now property of the Montreal Canadiens, the once-proud franchise that has fallen on dark times.
Given how successful Vegas was last year, there didn’t seem to be a place for Suzuki in the 2018-19 Vegas lineup, and that was all well and good: the youngster is still just 19 and he has unfinished business in the OHL.
“My goal is to win a championship,” he said. “I’ve been close before, but haven’t made the championship series yet. That’s something I really want to do and I want to do it with Owen Sound.”
Of course, Montreal is a black hole when it comes to centers at the moment, so perhaps Suzuki slots in with the Habs right away. He’ll need a big training camp, but the opportunity certainly seems to be there.
A mid-sized pivot with quickness, Suzuki drives possession and plays a versatile game. His biggest strength is his intelligence and he uses that to create offense, leading the Attack with 100 points in 64 games last season. Like many prospects, Suzuki could use more strength, but he’s not afraid to go to the dirty areas.
Paradoxically, Suzuki has also won the OHL’s Most Sportsmanlike Player award two years in a row. During that span, he has been pinched for just 28 PIM total. Could he be a future Lady Byng winner? It’s a proud aspect of his game.
“It means a lot,” Suzuki said. “It’s really cool to win the award twice, it’s always something I’ve prided myself on. If I’m back, maybe I can win it a third time.”
And if he does head back to junior, he’ll also get a chance to help Canada defend gold at the world juniors in Vancouver. Suzuki didn’t make the team last year, but the roster for the 2019 tourney will be almost completely new: only Maxime Comtois, Alex Formenton and Robert Thomas are eligible to return from last year’s gold-medal crew.
Long-term, Suzuki gives Montreal another top-six option, though he’s probably not a No. 1 center. A top-line winger or second-line center? Sure, he can hit those marks. If Jesperi Kotkaniemi can develop into a No. 1 center, the Habs are set, because Ryan Poehling could be the next generation’s Ryan O’Reilly, but the Finnish kid still has a ways to go. And the upcoming NHL season still looks like a trainwreck for the Canadiens.
So the Habs are probably picking high again this summer. Depending on where they slot, they might even want to consider taking Nick’s younger brother, Barrie Colts pivot Ryan Suzuki. He’s ultra-talented and may even go higher than his older sibling once the draft comes around. The brothers got to face off against each other last year in the OHL, which was surreal for Nick.
“He’s someone I’ve tried to mentor and to see him out on the ice against me was pretty cool,” he said. “We had a lot of fun with it, a lot of family and friends came out. To see him on the other team was weird at first, but it was really good competition. I took him down a couple times.”
Legally, of course — Suzuki had to keep up his sportsmanlike ways, after all.
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When the Canadiens traded away Max Pacioretty to the Vegas Golden Knights, most fans of the team were fast asleep without any reason to think that their captain would be traded by the time they woke up.
While a deal of this magnitude is sure to capture all the headlines Monday morning, there’s sure to be a large majority of fans of the Canadiens who simply have no idea who Nick Suzuki is or why the Canadiens may have been interested in him. The addition of Tatar and the value of a second-round selection should be well-known but when dealing with prospects, it’s very easy to lose track of who’s who outside of the NHL.
Background on Nick Suzuki
When looking at Suzuki, his rankings heading into the 2017 NHL Entry Draft placed him as a mid-to-late round pick in the first-round. While his offensive prowess and ability to play as a natural center were very apparent, being slightly undersized at 5 foot 11 and only 183 pounds gave some scouts pause. That didn’t scare the Golden Knights, however, as they deemed Suzuki to be worthy of a top-15 selection, picking him 13th overall in 2017 and immediately making an effort to shore up their long-term center depth in the process.
How good has Suzuki been at the OHL level, you might ask? Well, in 63 games in his rookie season with the Owen Sound Attack, Suzuki would score 20 goals and 38 points and add another two goals in six postseason contests. Just one season later when given an increased role on the team, he would score an impressive 45 goals and 96 points in 65 games with another eight goals and 23 points coming in the playoffs.
That impressive breakout season was enough to earn him high praise and a first-round billing and while Suzuki could have easily trailed off the following season while working on his defensive game, he would manage to score 42 goals and 100 points in 64 games in 2017-18 while working diligently on puck-protection and defensive-zone accountability. It’s easy to lose an offensive touch when a player is focusing on honing in on the defensive side of the game, but Suzuki’s high hockey-IQ were enough to help him maintain his offensive output while also getting noticeably better defensively.
Scoring in the OHL can only get a player so far, however, and it’s for that reason that Suzuki appears to be such a good prospect. His offense doesn’t come simply from being lucky or having more skill than his peers in the OHL. Instead, it’s a testament to how fast Suzuki can think on the ice and how far ahead he sees plays before they ever even develop. Combining his skill, smarts and consistency with a strong work ethic and willingness to play bigger than he actually is, Suzuki’s ceiling is that of a top-six center with potential to play a legitimate top-line role.
“Definitely my hockey sense,” Suzuki said when asked of his best trait at the Golden Knights development camp in July. “I think I think the game a lot better than a lot of players. I just use that to my advantage in getting to spots quicker and being in the right spot all the time.”
Planning out an attack while on the fly rather than simply winging it on every shift and every action on the ice is a mature way to approach the game. It just happens to be something that Suzuki excels at, as well.
It’s for that reason that he’s also an exceptionally talented penalty killer who has a prowess for scoring short-handed goals with consistency. Whether or not those goals translate to the next level is unknown but it’s encouraging nonetheless.
Where Can Suzuki Improve?
For every good thing that can be said about a prospect, there are almost always apparent drawbacks as there is virtually no such thing as a “perfect prospect.” With that said, Suzuki’s flaws aren’t anything that should be of major concern to the Canadiens, especially given how much growth he’s had as a player from being drafted just over one year ago.
Players with the type of high-hockey IQ and combination of speed and skill that Suzuki possesses typically don’t fail to reach their potential at the next level if they stay hungry to constantly improve and learn. If the past is an indication, Suzuki’s willingness to improve should carry him to a prominent NHL role in the relatively near future.
If there were any two things that he would need to work on the most before making the jump, however, it would be skating and strength. While his speed and quickness are apparent, there’s still a lot of room to be made in terms of pathing, technique and all-around skating skill. Speed can only get a player so far.
As for strength, it’s already been mentioned that Suzuki has a willingness to play bigger and his ability to protect the puck has improved in the last year. Still, as an undersized player, Suzuki will need to work on being strong on his skates and with his stick to excel at the NHL level.
A New Core Coming to Montreal
With Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the mix, the Canadiens should be in good shape in terms of their top-six center depth for the future. Adding Poehling to the fold and the Canadiens may finally have figured out their issue down the middle – an issue that has plagued the team for decades.
Another positive for the Canadiens with Suzuki is his leadership role on the Owen Sound Attack. chosen as an alternate captain alongside Jonah Gadjovich in 2017-18, Suzuki would be considered a major part of the team’s leadership core along with Jacob Friend who would be named the team’s 22nd captain in franchise history.
The Canadiens are re-vamping their core in Montreal with major changes coming in recent offseasons, including the team trading away P.K. Subban to the Nashville Predators (and acquiring Shea Weber), acquiring Jonathan Drouin from the Tampa Bay Lightning (in exchange for Mikhail Sergachev), trading away Alex Galchenyuk to the Arizona Coyotes (and acquiring Max Domi) and even trading Lars Eller to the Washington Capitals and effectively replacing him with Andrew Shaw.
Having new leaders on the team will only help the Canadiens and Suzuki fits that mold perfectly. While it isn’t clear yet how long it will take Suzuki to make the jump to the NHL level, fans in Montreal should be excited about what the future holds after one of the bleakest seasons in franchise history in 2017-18.
Nick Suzuki, a 19-year-old forward, is the key return in the trade that sent Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty to the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Canadiens also obtained NHL veteran Tomas Tatar and a second-round draft pick next June, but general manager Marc Bergevin made it clear that Suzuki is part of the Canadiens’ plan to get younger and faster.
“Vegas selected him 13th overall and we had him at 11 on our list,” Bergevin said Monday prior to teeing off at the Canadiens’ annual charity golf tournament at Laval-sur-le-Lac. Suzuki was long gone when the Canadiens picked 25th and selected Ryan Poehling.
Bergevin said Vegas general manager George McPhee was reluctant to give up Suzuki, but realized it was part of the price for adding a 30-goal scorer.
Montreal is hoping that Suzuki can be a 30-goal scorer. The scouting reports say he’s a speedy, skilled player with a nose for the net. He had 45 goals and 96 points in 65 games in his draft year and improved to 100 points with 42 goals in 64 games last season.
Suzuki has one year of junior eligibility remaining, but Bergevin and head coach Claude Julien said the youngster will be given a chance to earn a spot in the NHL this year.
“You look at Victor Mete and he came to camp last year as a 19-year-old and everybody thought he would be going back to junior, but he made the team,” said Julien.
Speaking of Mete, he has some first-hand experience playing against Suzuki and he believes the newcomer has a chance to make the roster.
“I was playing for London and he was at Owen Sound and we played them six times a season,” Mete recalled. “I remember one game he scored seven points against us. He’s a very good player and if he brings those kills to the NHL, he’ll help us.”
Suzuki is most often listed as a centre, but it should be noted that he put up those monster numbers last season as a left winger and he was playing left wing at the Golden Knights’ rookie camp. He describes himself as a versatile forward who can fill all three spots and it’s interesting to note that he’s a right-handed shot who has been playing on his off-wing. While many European players line up on the off-wing, it’s rare for a North American player.
Tatar, 27, has scored 20 goals on four occasions with a high of 29 in 2014-15.
Vegas gave up first-, second- and third-round draft choices to acquire the Slovak at the trade deadline, but he was a disappointment. He had four goals and two assists in 20 regular-season games and appeared in only eight games during Vegas’ run to the Stanley Cup final. He had a goal and an assist in the playoffs.
Under the circumstances, the second-round draft choice is a bonus, but it might be one that requires Trevor Timmins and his scouting staff to pull a rabbit out of a hat.
While the Golden Knights lost James Neal, they’ve added Pacioretty and Paul Stastny and are rumoured to be targeting another captain — Ottawa defenceman Erik Karlsson. A successful sophomore season in Sin City would have the Canadiens drafting somewhere in the No. 55-62 range.
phickey@postmedia.com
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He had 100 pts last and 31 more pts than the 2nd highest scoring player on his team.
4th in points in the ohl, 3rd in goals.
He is expected to be a top player for team Canada in the next world junior tournament
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