I thought the Canadiens made the right decision when they made Nick Suzuki the youngest captain in franchise history at the team’s annual golf tournament ahead of the 2022-23 NHL season.
Suzuki was 23 at the time with only three seasons of NHL experience. The other leading candidate to wear the “C” was Brendan Gallagher, who at the time had 10 years of NHL experience and is seven years older than Suzuki. Gallagher was the heart and soul of the Canadiens — and in many ways he still is — but Suzuki was heading into the first season of an eight-year, US$63-million contract and the team was in a rebuilding process. Suzuki represented the future.
Gallagher would have been a solid choice to be captain, but he also understood why the “C” went to Suzuki.
“We’re a team that for us to compete we’re going to need our young guys to make that step and that jump to the next level,” Gallagher said after Suzuki was named captain. “I think most importantly we found a guy, we found a captain that can lead us and take us there and that’s really what we’re looking for. I think when you look at Suz, he’s fully deserving of this opportunity.
“We all believe he’s ready,” Gallagher added. “There’s going to be some growing pains and some ups and downs, but he’s going to learn as he goes. But, for the most part, I think he’s going to flourish in this opportunity — especially doing it in a market like Montreal.”
That’s exactly what’s happening now.
After the Canadiens went 1-7-1 in their last nine games before the 4 Nations Face-Off break in the schedule to fall six points out of a wild-card playoff spot, Suzuki met with general manager Kent Hughes and asked him not to break up the team at the March 7 NHL trade deadline. Hughes told Suzuki it was up to him as captain to put the team on his shoulders and start winning games or there would be trades.
The Canadiens won their first five games after the break with Suzuki posting 4-9-13 totals and Hughes decided not to make any moves on trade-deadline day. The Canadiens are now 7-1-2 in 10 games since the 4 Nations break and Suzuki has 5-12-17 totals over that span. As of Monday morning, the Canadiens were only one point out of a wild-card playoff spot.
“We just had a one-on-one conversation about the team and where we thought we were at,” Suzuki said after Saturday’s game when asked about his meeting with Hughes. “His perspective, my perspective. I’m obviously confident in what we have, what we’ve been building together. I think it would have been a shame if we got rid of guys and didn’t give it a shot with this group. Thankfully he made that call and we got more wins and it was easier for him.”
At the end of Saturday’s game, four of the players most likely to get traded ahead of the deadline were all on the ice as the Canadiens protected a two-goal lead against the defending Stanley Cup champions: Jake Evans, Christian Dvorak, Joel Armia and David Savard. All four can become unrestricted free agents on July 1.
“It means he believes in us,” Dvorak said when asked about Suzuki’s meeting with Hughes. “He knows we have a good opportunity here and he didn’t want them to trade guys away and have less of a chance to make playoffs. It means a lot he did that. I’m happy he did it because we’re all here and hopefully finish the thing off and get in (the playoffs).”
Suzuki said he took it as a personal challenge when Hughes told him he had to put the team on his shoulders.
“All these guys are my best friends, so I didn’t want to see any of them get traded at the deadline,” Suzuki said. “It sucked for the last three years (not making the playoffs and having teammates traded at the deadline). It’s nothing you want to go through. The morale was a lot better after the trade deadline when no one got traded.”
It shows on the ice — with Suzuki leading the way.
The captain leads the Canadiens in scoring with 20-49-69 totals and also has a team-best plus-12 rating.
“I wouldn’t say we talk a lot,” Suzuki said about his relationship with Hughes. “He’s at the rink a lot. We have a good relationship. I feel comfortable going to him with anything that I need. He’s very open.”
Suzuki has really impressed head coach Martin St. Louis with his recent play.
“I think he’s doing everything,” St. Louis said. “He’s playing big minutes, tough matchups. He’s been very good offensively, but he’s been very responsible defensively, too. I think he’s just been showing the way. I think guys are following. I think he put his best foot forward coming off the break. It doesn’t guarantee everything that he’s gotten individually and collectively, but he’s played a huge hand in why we are where we are.”
Suzuki will also play a huge hand in where the rebuilding Canadiens are going.