Hurricanes’ Ryan Suzuki Ready for an NHL Call-Up

Through all the adversity, Suzuki’s talent and natural skill shone through. For the first time in his career, since the Hurricanes drafted him, he is finally healthy, confident and being deployed in a top-line role with the Chicago Wolves (who are again affiliated with the Hurricanes), and the organization has their hands on his development. In turn, the results have been excellent.

Through 49 games for Chicago, Suzuki leads the team with 39 points, and his 33 assists are top five in the league. He was named an AHL All-Star for his efforts and, now age 23, made his NHL debut for the Hurricanes on Jan. 30 — playing back-to-back nights against the Chicago Blackhawks and the Los Angeles Kings. He’s finally turned a corner, consistently playing the best hockey of his career and has become one of the Wolves’ most reliable players in the process.

Suzuki’s Offensive & Defensive Growth

Suzuki has always been a gifted playmaker and distributor of the puck, and the eye injury that left him with a blind spot has not impacted his offensive game in the slightest. Sometimes, you’d think he has eyes in the back of his head, watching him play. His ability to find an open man despite not being in his direct sightline is a marvel — his vision is elite, and his ability to get the puck through defenders to the open man is superb. Look at this play to force a turnover and find an open man just last week:

Incredible vision. The knock against Suzuki leading up to the draft was that he could be lazy, disengaged, and float around defensively at times, but that is not the case. He’s a willing competitor despite not being the biggest or strongest player, and he isn’t afraid to go to any area on the ice in pursuit of the puck. I reached out to Wolves beat writer Andrew Rinaldi to pick his brain on the progression he’s seen from Suzuki from his rookie season to today. He had high praise for Suzuki’s development:

Rinaldi: “I think he’s finally rounding into the type of player Carolina hoped for when they drafted him. They expected a dynamic playmaker out of junior, and he facilitates and drives the play with the best of them at [the AHL] level. He and [Bradly] Nadeau found a natural chemistry immediately, and part of Bradly’s eye-popping start to his pro career is due to Suzuki being able to get the puck to him in prime positions where he can utilize his NHL-level shot. Suzuki has the creativity and vision offensively and defensive IQ to be a good NHL player. I wish he’d use his shot more often as a weapon, and while his shooting percentage and goal totals might say otherwise, I think he’s got some skill to put the puck into the net.

That being said, I was worried with the setbacks between injuries and affiliation drama, and while it’s been a rollercoaster, I think Suzuki’s path to the NHL is there. His play this year, cementing himself as a leader of this team, reliable in all three zones, has shown he’s on the cusp of the big leagues. He’s never going to be too much of the grinder-type player that you see filling out those bottom-six roles, but I think he can be a contributor somewhere in the NHL with his smarts in his own zone and his ability to create and find space in the attacking end. I would also say he’s gained a step in his stride as well. He’s able to attack with speed and use that to his advantage way more frequently than he did before.”

Rinaldi has watched Suzuki as much as anybody since he made his debut at the pro level, so I have the utmost respect and confidence in his opinion. Still, it’s validation that he’s on the same page as I am, believing that Suzuki is right on the cusp of making the jump to the NHL.

Is Suzuki NHL-Ready?

No one wants to force a rookie into a role that he isn’t ready for at this point in the season and risk hurting his progress and confidence. However, if you look at the Hurricanes’ roster, Suzuki has the potential to help the group immediately. He’s a versatile player — he’s been used as both a center and a winger for the Wolves this season with strong results in each role, which gives him immediate value in an NHL lineup.

Also, with Jack Drury traded to the Colorado Avalanche, a spot has opened up in the bottom-six that has yet to be claimed, and Will Carrier remains on injured reserve. Tyson Jost recently returned from injury, but the ‘Canes opted to play 11-7 and deploy Riley Stillman as the 7th D in their game against the Montreal Canadiens last week. It’s not exactly a vote of confidence if the team would rather go with 7 D and give Stillman under two minutes of ice time rather than have Jost in the lineup. Jack Roslovic and Jesperi Kotkaniemi have also had middling results in both the 2C and 4C roles. At some point, management should want to see if Suzuki can offer something different.

That doesn’t mean he should come in and immediately take the reins of a spot, but outside of Sebastian Aho, the team has received inconsistent-at-best production from their center-ice group, and Suzuki has been one of the top offensive creators at the AHL level this season. Furthermore, both Roslovic and Jost are on expiring contracts and haven’t done much of anything that would constitute an extension, so at some point, the Hurricanes should see if Suzuki can be a replacement moving forward.

His play has more than earned him a look, and with players ahead of him doing little to distinguish themselves, I’d love to see Suzuki get an extended look at what he can do in the NHL. Sometimes, all you need is an opportunity, and at this point, Suzuki has earned his. When that opportunity comes, let’s hope he takes it, runs with it and becomes the player he was projected to be.