Nick Suzuki Cracks NHL Network’s Top 10 Centers

Suzuki has improved every season, but last year he truly broke out into the NHL’s elite, where he put up a career-high 59 assists and 89 points, which included his 2nd career 30-goal campaign. His performance ranked 7th among all centres last season. Every time you think that Suzuki has plateaued, he seems to find another gear to his game. 

This is why people like Stu Cowan and Pierre McGuire start discussing a 100-point season for the 26-year-old. Nobody truly knows his peak potential at this point.

Also, the fact that Suzuki has broken into the top 10 centres according to NHL Network, means that they see him above stars like Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils (has trouble staying healthy over the last few seasons), and Sebastian Aho of the Carolina Hurricanes, which 12 months ago didn’t seem like a possibility.

Another player that he’s above is Robert Thomas of the St. Louis Blues, who NHL Network placed 12th despite having almost identical numbers to Suzuki. Like Suzuki, Thomas also took the league by storm after the Four Nations tournament to help his team make the playoffs. Both players also play a very strong 2-way game and can be relied on in any situation for their respective teams.

The only difference, and this is something NHL Network took into account, is the well-known leadership that Suzuki brings every night. Being captain of the Montreal Canadiens is likely the hardest captaincy in the entire NHL because not only is the city crazy about hockey, but you have to answer to two languages and get criticized every time something goes wrong. Since I started watching hockey constantly over the last 25 years, I have never seen anyone handle the job of captain so well.

Yes, Saku Koivu was a great captain but he wasn’t the type of leader that could get respect from all his teammates, as during his time as captain, there appeared to be some tension between him and some of his teammates, such as Mike Ribeiro. With Suzuki as captain, it seems like all his teammates respect his opinion, and that’s an intangible that can be used when discussing a player’s value to his team. In a way, it can be said that Suzuki is more valuable than Thomas because of the role he plays or Hughes, since he’s been in and out of the lineup for the Devils due to injuries over the past few seasons. 

Meanwhile, Suzuki has yet to miss a game throughout his career. That’s not to say Suzuki hasn’t been hurt at times; rather, he has played through injuries a few times in his career. He is just lucky that there haven’t been any severe injuries yet. Hopefully, this continues and he can remain one of the NHL’s Ironmen for years to come. 

This upcoming season, it seems like Suzuki will have his mind Set on having a strong start to the year so that he can make Team Canada for the Olympics. However, many analysts are now projecting him onto the Olympic team after his offensive explosion that came after being left off Team Canada for the Four Nations. The fact that Suzuki plays a very versatile 2-way game means he can play anywhere that Canada needs him to. Hopefully, Hockey Canada recognizes his worth and he is invited to represent the country.

With all this being said, through his overall game, intangibles and leadership, it makes sense that Suzuki has cracked the top 10 centres list for NHL Network.

Do you think Nick Suzuki is a top 10 centre in the NHL?