NHL
ST. PAUL, Minn. \u2014 Coming into the season, it seemed like a bit of a make-or-break year for Nick Suzuki<\/a>.
It is his fifth NHL<\/a> season, he is 24 years old, so if we were going to get an idea of Suzuki\u2019s ceiling, this seemed like a season where he would need to show it.
After 31 games, strictly from a point production standpoint, Suzuki seems to be who Suzuki has always been.
The production in all situations couldn\u2019t be more stable, and his production at five-on-five is currently at a career low. So maybe, so far at least, this is what Suzuki will ultimately be. And maybe that\u2019s fine, he\u2019s an excellent player who does many things well.
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But Martin St. Louis and most importantly Suzuki himself don\u2019t think that is the case.
\u201cI think there\u2019s more, but I think Nick is going to keep getting better as our team gets better,\u201d St. Louis said Wednesday. \u201cBecause it\u2019s hard to get better if people around you don\u2019t get better. It\u2019s not a one-man league, so I feel like as our team evolves and gets better, Suzy\u2019s going to keep getting better.\u201d
In other words, Suzuki is a great facilitator, and as the players around him take better advantage of his facilitating, the better his numbers will be, and the better he will be as a player.
\u201cI\u2019m definitely not a finished product,\u201d Suzuki said. \u201cI\u2019m still learning a lot, still trying to figure out things in my game that I need to get better at. So definitely not a finished product at 24. I\u2019m trying to learn each day, each game, and get better.
\u201cOver the last four years, offensively, defensively, through the neutral zone, special teams, I\u2019ve gotten a lot better in each area. I think I can still get better, it\u2019s just a matter of consistency and reps and knowing what I need to do everywhere. There\u2019s a lot of room to grow still.\u201d
Suzuki is the type of player who is more appreciated by other players than perhaps fans or media or other observers. There are subtleties to his game that are hard to appreciate off the ice, but to those on the ice, they jump out.
This is just one example.
\u201cI think it\u2019s his ability to recognize time and space, and his version of time and space is much different than a lot of other guys,\u201d Mike Matheson said. \u201cHe has a really good ability to protect the puck, but he also has a really good ability of knowing \u2026 when one guy would get the puck and feel rushed and feel like he has to make a play, he has a really good understanding of knowing that, no, I actually have a half a second, and he\u2019ll take that half a second. Or he\u2019ll turn that half a second into two seconds by protecting it or making a move.
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\u201cI think that\u2019s a really good skill that separates him.\u201d
One thing that is important to keep in mind \u2014 and it is very relevant to St. Louis\u2019 answer \u2014 is that Suzuki has not had a consistent line his entire career, and it is looking like he might have that now with Juraj Slafkovsk\u00fd<\/a> fulfilling his draft day destiny<\/a> and joining Suzuki and Cole Caufield<\/a> on the Canadiens\u2019<\/a> top line.
\u201cWhen you have three guys that play together, know where they\u2019re going, know what they have to do, it makes it a lot easier than switching guys in and out,\u201d Suzuki said. \u201cIf we can play together and play well for a while, I think Marty will keep us together, and I think that\u2019s what the three of us kind of envisioned when he got drafted, so it\u2019s fun it\u2019s here now and we get to play together.\u201d
The three of us? We knew Slafkovsk\u00fd always wanted to play with Suzuki and Caufield, but it turns out that\u2019s what they wanted as well when Slafkovsk\u00fd came up on the draft stage at the Bell Centre two years ago. Suzuki was privy to some of the Canadiens\u2019 decision-making process prior to the 2022 draft, and while he didn\u2019t know Slafkovsk\u00fd would be the pick ahead of time, he knew he was in the mix. So he tried to get to know him a little bit.
\u201cI met him the day before the draft, five or six of the top prospects skated in Brossard and I was on the ice with all of them, so I got to talk to them,\u201d Suzuki said. \u201cI knew we were looking at a few different guys, I was told a little bit but not who we were going to pick the next day, so I just wanted to talk to all of them.
\u201cWith Slaf, I knew some of his comments at the combine in the media about wanting to play with me and Cole, so it was cool to meet him before and then see him on stage and let him know we were excited for him to be with us.\u201d
Spoke to Juraj Slafkovsk\u00fd about hockey sense, often overshadowed by the physical gifts, never considered to be one of his strengths. But maybe it should be.
\u201cI\u2019m not so stupid.\u201dhttps:\/\/t.co\/veHn8Q7iAc<\/a>
\u2014 Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) December 20, 2023<\/a>