Nick Suzuki was ready to captain the Montreal Canadiens months ago, really. But when a Hall of Fame player, who also happens to be your head coach, encourages you to think on it, that’s what you do. You listen to Martin St. Louis.

"You’re still a young guy," St. Louis had pointed out to Suzuki, "and it’s a heavy responsibility wearing the ‘C’ in a hockey market with pressure bordering on volcanic. So Suzuki took some time, even though, in his heart, there was no hesitation to accept the assignment. He spoke to revered former teammate Shea Weber, the most recent Habs captain, to get a sense of what to expect.

And maybe that extra time, those conversations with great leaders, gave Suzuki the necessary tools to handle his first PR controversy, which sprouted up immediately after he was unveiled as the franchise’s 31^st captain earlier this month: he’s not bilingual. Some fans and, most notably, some Quebecois politicians spoke up about the importance of having a French-speaking captain for the team.

But Suzuki, sitting down with reporters at the NHL Player Media Tour last week, digested the criticism and regurgitated it in a manner that demonstrated his leadership skills.

“They have the right to think players should speak French, and I feel like guys should know a little bit at least,” he said. “I took French in school for a while, so I feel like I know a little bit when I speak. I read better than I am at having a conversation. So I’m in a pretty good place and I can get better, too.”

He’s working on it. He spent the summer using Babbel, a language learning app, and even felt the introductory lessons were too easy. He’s still just 23, not very far removed from school, so most of the basics are still in his head. It’s just a matter of getting himself to a point where he can eloquently articulate some thoughts in French in a post-game scrum.

Ultimately, though? If the mini controversy was Test 1 in Suzuki’s tenure leading the Habs, he passed it. And that shouldn’t come as a significant surprise. If we look at the decisions the franchise has made in the past 10 months or so, beginning with the firing of GM Marc Bergevin and eventual hiring of Kent Hughes as his replacement, many moves have been executed with the goal of overhauling the leadership group.  

The most obvious, of course, has been the hiring of St. Louis as head coach. It was immediately apparent how much he changed the team culture. The 14-19-4 finish under his watch doesn’t look overly impressive, but Montreal was much feistier after he took over. It had a minus-80 goal differential in 45 games before St. Louis compared to minus-19 in 37 games after.

“He brought a ton of energy,” Suzuki said. “Practices change a lot. A lot more competitive, a lot more small-area games, making plays. He’s a guy that likes to think about the game, teaches everyone. One of his main things is to teach the four guys without the puck what to do, and it makes it easier on the guy with the puck. I like to hear that. I like to make plays, and if guys are in the right spots it makes it much easier on the puck carrier.”

St. Louis’ impact on Suzuki’s game was immediate and tangible. Suzuki tells Daily Faceoff he feels the biggest change was being entrusted with confidence. Sure, the 34 points in 37 games post-St. Louis are the obvious indicator that Suzuki was a different player under St. Louis, but how about the ice time? Suzuki was a horse for Dominique Ducharme, too, playing 19:56 a night, but under St. Louis the minutes jumped to a whopping 21:13.

And the impact on Suzuki linemate Cole Caufield was undeniable, of course: one goal and an AHL demotion in 30 games pre-St. Louis, 22 goals in 37 games post-St. Louis.

“When (St. Louis) came, Cole just had a lot more energy, was happier at the rink, just kind of went back to himself,” Suzuki said. “I know he was a St. Louis fan growing up and his dad loved him, so adding him gave Cole that confidence and swagger back and he was just having fun again. Obviously a tough start to the season with him going down to the AHL, you don’t like to see that, but sometimes you need that as a young (player), and it pushed him a lot. So he’s ready and he’ll be staying this year.”

The Habs made another impactful hire this offseason, bringing in ‘Captain Clutch,’ one of the most decorated hockey players of all-time: Marie-Philip Poulin, hired as a player development consultant. That added another leader to the mix, a four-time Olympic gold medallist who has scored the title-clinching goal three times, for Suzuki to lean on.

“She’s been awesome,” Suzuki said. “Ever since she joined the organization, I see her throughout the city and at the rink. She’s amazing to talk to. So it’s cool to just speak to her about her experiences. She’s probably the best women’s player and she’s done so many things, so it’s great to just learn off her.”

On top of bouncing thoughts off St. Louis and Poulin, Suzuki has regular conversations with Habs alumni who previously wore the ‘C.’ He singles out Yvan Cournoyer, Vincent Damphousse and Guy Carbonneau as players who have doled out meaningful advice.

So while Suzuki may still appear young enough and soft spoken enough that he could be starting his senior year of high school, he’s ready to be the backbone of the Habs’ rebuild. It won’t be easy. He’s naturally anti-tanking and says it’s impossible for players to do anything but try to win, but the Habs are coming off their third-worst points percentage in 104 NHL seasons, so they have a ways to go before becoming relevant in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Yet Suzuki is made of the right stuff to eventually lead this team out of the darkness and, just as importantly, he has an extremely sturdy and accomplished support system behind him.

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