Lariviere: Two Potential Fill-Ins For Nick Suzuki

If Oliver Kapanen doesn’t work out filling in for injured Montreal Canadiens captain and top centre Nick Suzuki, Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach could be options as well.

After finding out that they will be without their captain and leading point-getter Nick Suzuki for the next two to four weeks, the Montreal Canadiens are about to face another dose of adversity. For a team that is already without rising star forward Ivan Demidov until at least the first week of November, the Canadiens are going to have to dig deep and collectively overcome another obstacle in what has been a bumpy first month of the 2026-27 NHL regular season. It’s no secret that the Montreal Canadiens don’t have anyone at the centre position that could come close to filling the gigantic role of Nick Suzuki and will now be forced to test their depth up the middle. A trade may seem like a good idea on the surface to find a replacement for Suzuki, but the truth is teams are aware that the Canadiens need a centre even more now and have zero leverage. As the famous saying in NHL management circles goes:

‘When they know you’re in trouble, they throw you anvils not anchors.’

Therefore, the Canadiens will likely need to overcome Suzuki’s absence on their own and with a thin centre corps.

On Thursday, second-year centre Oliver Kapanen skated between regular first line wingers Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield at practice. While Kapanen has had success with Slafkovsky earlier this season and for a solid portion of last season, Alex Newhook is the next best offensive option behind Suzuki at centre. Newhook has a goal and three assists in nine games this season but if he could find the magic scoring touch that saw him light the lamp seven times and set up three goals in 19 games during the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Canadiens would have a better offensive punch in the 1C slot.