You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometime you’ll find
You get what you need
Those lyrics to the classic Rolling Stones song You Can’t Always Get What You Want could also be used to describe the trade that brought Nick Suzuki to the Canadiens.
Former general manager Marc Bergevin acquired Suzuki from the Vegas Golden Knights hours before the Canadiens’ annual golf tournament at Laval-sur-le-Lac on Sept. 10, 2018. Bergevin had painted himself into a corner at the time with Max Pacioretty and the relationship between the team captain and the GM was getting ugly. Bergevin obviously wanted to trade Pacioretty before the golf tournament to avoid their relationship and trade possibilities being the focal point ahead of a new season.
Bergevin was able to deal Pacioretty to the Golden Knights in exchange for Suzuki, Tomas Tatar and a second-round pick at the 2019 NHL Draft that was later dealt to the Los Angeles Kings. But Suzuki wasn’t the player Bergevin really wanted in the trade.
As The Athletic’s Arpon Basu reported two years ago, Bergevin was more interested in Vegas defence prospect Erik Brannstrom or forward Cody Glass. The Golden Knights had selected all three of those players in the first round of the 2017 NHL Draft, taking Glass sixth overall, Suzuki 13th overall and Brannstrom 15th overall. Basu reported that to close the deal, Bergevin told Golden Knights GM George McPhee he’d take whichever one of those three players he was willing to give up. McPhee decided it would be Suzuki.
“For us, Nick Suzuki was the key piece because we liked a young, A-prospect who was picked 13th overall and I believe at the time we had him 11th on our list,” Bergevin told reporters at the golf tournament after making the trade. “George went through a thing where he mentioned to me in the past where he traded a young player, and he was not very keen on that. But, at the end of the day, to get you have to give and we were able to get the deal done. And I hope it works for both parties, I really do.”
The trade has worked out very well for the Canadiens, while things haven’t gone so well for Brannstrom or Glass.
Brannstrom never played a game for the Golden Knights before being traded to the Ottawa Senators on Feb. 25, 2019 as part of the deal that brought Mark Stone to Las Vegas. Brannstrom has played 294 games over the last seven seasons with the Senators and Vancouver Canucks, posting 10-67-77 totals.
The Canucks placed Brannstrom on waivers in early January before sending him down to the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks. Vancouver then traded Brannstrom to the Rangers on Jan. 31 as part of a deal that also sent J.T. Miller to New York. The Rangers then dealt Brannstrom to the Buffalo Sabres ahead of last Friday’s NHL trade deadline. Brannstrom, 25, is now with the AHL’s Rochester Americans.
Glass played 66 games over two seasons with the Golden Knights before being traded to the Nashville Predators in the summer of 2021. The Predators traded Glass to Pittsburgh in the summer of 2024 and last Friday the Penguins dealt the 25-year-old centre to the New Jersey Devils. In 240 career NHL games, Glass has 34-55-89 totals.
Meanwhile, Suzuki is trying to carry the Canadiens on his shoulders into the playoffs as captain.
Suzuki had a goal and an assist Tuesday night as the Canadiens beat the Canucks 4-2 in Vancouver to move within two points of a wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. In the eight games since the 4 Nations Face-Off break in the NHL schedule before facing the Kraken Wednesday in Seattle (10:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS), Suzuki had 5-10-15 totals while the Canadiens posted a 6-1-1 record.
Suzuki has never missed a game during his six seasons with the Canadiens. The game in Seattle will be his 438th consecutive game, which ranks third among current NHL players behind Carolina Hurricanes defenceman Brent Burns (908) and St. Louis Blues defenceman Ryan Suter (518). Suzuki is leading the Canadiens in scoring for a fourth consecutive season with 20-47-67 totals before facing the Kraken, giving him 128-225-353 totals in 437 career games.
The Canadiens headed into the 4 Nations Face-Off break six points out of a wild-card playoff spot after going 1-7-1 in their previous nine games. Suzuki wasn’t happy with the way the team was playing, the way he was playing and the way his linemates — Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky — were playing. Suzuki also didn’t want GM Kent Hughes to break up the team ahead of last Friday’s NHL trade deadline. Hughes told Suzuki it was on his shoulders as captain to turn things around — and that’s exactly what the 25-year-old has done with help from his linemates. Hughes decided not to make any moves at the trade deadline, keeping the team intact.
Caufield had 6-3-9 totals in the last eight games before facing the Kraken, while Slafkovsky had 4-4-8 totals over that span.
The Canadiens are lucky to have Suzuki.