Given that the Montreal Canadiens are one of the league’s youngest teams, it stands to reason that some of its younger players will make significant strides in their careers this season.
Players like Juraj Slafkovsky, Jayden Struble, and Cayden Primeau, among others, have shown growth. While their good results have gotten a lot of plaudits from fans and commentators alike, one player has outperformed everyone in the squad and has yet to get his due.
Nick Suzuki is not only on track to establish a career high in points this season, but he’s also put up the kind of underlying metrics that suggest he’s the best fit as the team’s top center.
Statistics for the Montreal Canadiens
You may be wondering why there is even a debate about Suzuki’s optimum role on the team. Within the team’s long-term rebuilding plans, he has always been seen as the best center.
When reviewing Suzuki’s performance over the last two years, there were some worrying factors.
Simply put, Suzuki’s numbers plummeted after he played a smart brand of hockey in his first two years in the league, which resulted in very excellent possession metrics.
He dropped from far above 50% in numerous key categories (shot control, high-danger shoots, projected goals) to well below 50%. Another way to phrase it is that he transitioned from a player who frequently controlled the puck to a player who struggled to maintain control of the game’s flow.
Mind you, there were reasons for the drop in numbers.
He was on one of the league’s worst teams, one that set back-to-back records for the most man-games lost in a season. Suzuki had basically played with every winger on the squad by the end of the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of whom were below replacement level in the NHL.
His game lacked consistency, and to make matters worse, he was the only player who posed a genuine threat in the attacking zone, making game planning against the Canadiens a breeze.
If you take out Suzuki, you win the game.
This year, however, things are a little different.
Playing on a line with Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield has undoubtedly aided him. For a player who has had nearly 42 different wingers on his line per month for the last three years, it’s a measure of consistency.
Suzuki’s numbers were already fairly good before that line, which is currently playing extremely well, was put in place.
Simply put, while playing with Slafkovsky and Caufield has resulted in great outcomes, Suzuki’s performances away from those two are still fairly encouraging, whereas Caufield and Slafkovsky control less than half of the essential stats when not playing with the Montreal Canadiens captain.
As you can see, Suzuki is controlling more than half of the shots this season, which is impressive considering the Canadiens control less than half of the shots when Suzuki is not on the ice.
His impact on high-danger shots and predicted goals, however, really shines out.
Suzuki has a near-55 percent control of high-danger opportunities and a 53 percent control of predicted goals. In terms of predicted goals, the Canadiens are the fifth-worst team in the league, with 46.6 percent.
Not only is Nick Suzuki leading the Montreal Canadiens in scoring this season, but he has emerged as a top-line center capable of producing sustainable underlying numbers, which is a very encouraging sign for a team that has struggled to maintain a high level of play every night.
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