Lariviere: Nick Suzuki Makes Everyone Better On The Canadiens

What Suzuki did on Thursday was allow his linemates to fall back into the roles that they suit them best. For Slafkovsky, he is the player that does a lot of the dirty work in the corners for Suzuki and Cole Caufield so that they have the room to create the best chances possible in front of the net. Yes, Slafkovsky has shown that he can be a play driver, but he hasn’t been able to keep it up consistently, and with the way he started the season, being a line driver was likely not the right role for him at the time that Suzuki went down. Therefore, the expectations for Slafkovsky are now that he gets back on track.

Suzuki’s return goes beyond just helping his linemates, as the other centres like Jake Evans, Phillip Danault, and Alex Newhook will now have less pressure on them. It may not have shown a lot during Thursday’s win against the Mammoth, as the offense mainly came from the top line, power play, and depth defensemen, but these centres will be able to play a game without needing to go above and beyond their usual roles with the Canadiens. It wasn’t easy for the team to replace Suzuki’s 20+ minutes of ice time per night, but the other centres on the Montreal Canadiens replaced him by committee. This specifically was the case for Evans and Newhook, who were the team’s top two centres during Suzuki’s absence. Both were able to bring up their play a couple notches for a few games, but eventually they were deemed to be what they are as players. For Newhook, he is a middle six forward that can contribute some secondary scoring but should not be relied upon to put up big numbers, while Evans is a shutdown centre with limited offense.

Now, with Suzuki back in the lineup, the other centres can continue to play their roles within their natural capabilities and not be required to do more. The positive is that the Canadiens know that they have players who could step up for a limited amount of time in case of an injury to Suzuki, but it is definitely far from ideal for any of the centres. Eventually, the Canadiens should get another offensive centre to help take pressure off Suzuki, but for now, it’s the captain who is expected to take the pressure off others just for being in the lineup. 

The part of the game that Suzuki’s absence hurt the most overall was on the power play. During Tuesday’s game, the Montreal Canadiens’ power play finally broke through with two goals on four attempts, but in the previous five games, they went scoreless in 13 attempts while having trouble setting themselves in the offensive zone. On Thursday with Nick Suzuki carrying the puck up ice, the Canadiens looked a lot better set up on their top unit than when they had Newhook there. Ultimately, they would score once on four attempts thanks to forward Kirby Dach banging a puck past Mammoth goaltender Sebastian Cossa off a Suzuki shot that caused a scramble in front of the net. It wasn’t a fancy power play goal, but Suzuki knew what he was doing by getting the puck to the net, considering he had Dach out there with him instead of Caufield, who was in the penalty box at the time. 

Standing at 6’4” and 221 pounds, Dach is at his best on the power play, being a big body who can cause havoc in front of the net, and that’s exactly what he did to score. This is exactly what the captain understood on the play, thinking a few steps ahead of the Mammoth penalty killers, leading to a goal. Suzuki has more skill than any other centre that could replace him if injured, but the true asset in his game that makes him a difference maker is the elite hockey IQ. 

Overall, the Canadiens are a better team with a star centre like Suzuki, but his return on Thursday night proved exactly how valuable he is on the ice.