Cerebral Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki: future NHL general manager?

Credit: Mar 28, 2024; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens center Nick Suzuki (14) waits for a face-off against the Philadelphia Flyers during the second period at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports

Most people would fly home from a wedding in Italy feeling euphoric and relaxed. Not Nick Suzuki. When he boarded his plane home in June after his Montreal Canadiens teammate Josh Anderson tied the knot, it was immediately time to activate business mode.

The 2024 NHL Draft was happening. The Habs had two picks in the first round. As their captain, Suzuki felt it was his duty to monitor the proceedings. He watched the Draft on the plane, then beelined it home to keep watching after he landed. You’ll be hard pressed to find a captain around the league who is more plugged in to his team’s pipeline and scouting department.

“I feel like I have a pre-management side,” Suzuki told a small group of reporters at the NHL Player Media Tour in Las Vegas last month. “I love that kind of stuff in the league. And I feel like, as the captain, I’ve got to know what’s going on in the organization and what guys are coming up.”

Suzuki was able to get phone calls in to first-round picks Ivan Demidov and Michael Hage after they were selected. Suzuki sees it as a responsibility to monitor their development. And he even approaches his current teammates, not just his future ones, with an impressively insightful bird’s eye view. At 25, he’s already capable of assessing his linemate Juraj Slafkovsky with the precision of a pro scout. Suzuki can pinpoint what changed during the 2022 No. 1 overall pick’s breakout last season.

“I hope he can pick it up right where he left off,” Suzuki said. “He was playing really well the second half of the season with me and Cole [Caufield]. “His personality is perfect for Montreal. He loves to have fun. But he really takes his job seriously and expects a lot of himself. I think that hurt him through his first year and a half. He expected a lot early, and that’s not really how the league goes. You have to figure it out and play your game. He’s really figured out how to use his body and put himself in positions to succeed. Obviously, he’s huge. He just learned how big he was, and he can fight guys off. His first year he wasn’t really able to do that.”

Suzuki speaks softly, with a delivery bordering on monotone at times, so if you’re not paying attention, he can come off like your typical young NHLer spouting clichés as he navigates playing in a Canadian market. But that’s not the case at all if you listen to his words. Throw any topic at Suzuki, and he has a detailed answer for you. Martin St. Louis’ impact as a coach? Suzuki explains that the biggest effect has been teaching “the four guys without the puck” how to support the puck carrier. Suzuki can wax poetic about GM Kent Hughes and executive vice-president of hockey ops Jeff Gorton’s ability to unlock something in former prospects who struggled on their original teams, be it Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook or somebody else. The 4 Nations Face-Off? Suzuki says he’s thought “a lot” about making Team Canada and believes he can help in any role because of his shutdown ability at center.

It’s thus easy to understand why Suzuki feels he has that “pre-management” side. He’s clearly committed to gaining perspective on his organization and the league as a whole. And that includes understanding exactly where his team is situated in its rebuild. The Habs haven’t played postseason hockey since 2020-21, when they made an improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final. The past few seasons have been largely about asset accumulation, but Suzuki feels strongly that the Habs can’t live in that space for too much longer.

“We can’t just keep stockpiling prospects,” he said. “Not every prospect you draft is going to turn into what you thought of. Not everyone makes the team. The guys that do, it’s our job to keep getting better. I want to be in the playoffs. I’ve been in the playoffs twice now, and they haven’t been on normal circumstances [due to COVID-19). I haven’t gotten to play at the Bell Centre in front of a sold-out crowd.”

So will the Habs get to play in front of that sold-out postseason crowd this season? It still feels like a big ask. New acquisition Patrik Laine is already out two to three months with a knee sprain sustained during the pre-season. Top prospects such as Demidov, Hage and the also-injured David Reinbacher aren’t ready to contribute in the NHL yet. The Habs return a lineup similar to the one that finished last in the Atlantic Division last season. At the same time: literally every season, a surprise team gets good ahead of schedule. Montreal’s competition, the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres, have struggled to break through as playoff teams, while the aging Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning may be trending in the wrong direction. You never know what could happen. Suzuki could continue producing as a frontline player after breaking out for 33 goals and 77 points last season. Slafkovsky could level up again, Lane Hutson could be a breakout star on defense and the Habs’ underrated goaltending tandem of Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau could steal some games.

At the very least, Suzuki is ready to move past the training-wheels phase in the young team’s development.

“The players, the group that we have, everyone can be themselves and play free and not worry about the coaches for being on them for making mistakes,” he said. “We’re obviously a young team, and that’s going to go away. Your accountability for making the right play and not making mistakes is going to change over time. We’re allowed to experiment with different stuff, and mistakes weren’t the end of the world the last couple years, but I’m excited to get back to winning ways.”

Maybe someday soon, Suzuki will help usher Montreal into a competitive era as the franchise’s captain. And maybe someday down the road, he’ll do so in a front office job, too. If there’s one thing he’s shown us so far in his career, it’s that he’s always thinking ahead.

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Cerebral Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki: future NHL general manager?

Article presented by Fountain Tire

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