Is Nick Suzuki the elite center we've been waiting for?

Posted On: January 8, 2024

When Marc Bergevin signed him to an eight-year contract extension in 2021, he had the vision that Nick Suzuki would become one of the NHL's first elite centers. The Canadian captain completes the second year of this pact. What is this exactly?

According to data compiled by Sportlogiq, the 24-year-old Suzuki continues to be one of the NHL's best forwards in numerous categories. Undoubtedly, the most telling is the amount of time he owned the puck in the offensive zone.

He controls the Canadian's attack with the puck on his stick for an average of 57 seconds per game. That puts him at 13^e Rank, eight seconds or less behind Leon Draisaitl (1:05), Mikko Rantanen (1:04), Kirill Kaprizov (1:03) and Patrick Kane (1:00). And he is ahead of William Nylander (0:56).

If we only look at centers, he is ranked sixth, behind big names like Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Jack Hughes.

Controlling the puck is one thing. But when it comes to removing it, we are no further ahead. However, Suzuki maintains a 13.8% turnover rate. This is a respectable figure, although there is room for improvement.

However, players in this category sometimes rely on their playmates. With the first unit appearing more solid in nearly ten games, Suzuki should become more efficient.

“My darling, my darling”

Martin St-Louis often repeats: “The NHL is not an easy league.” Nobody gives gifts to each other. Even less when it comes to protecting the puck. “My darling, my darling,” as Smeagol would say Lord of the Rings.

So to get it you have to chase the carrier, apply pressure, rush to jump on him when he is free and win the one-on-one battles to get it.

Here too, the Habs center player is one of the best in his field. With 3.03 battles won per encounter, he is in 12th place^e Ranks among forwards on par with Sidney Crosby, a model of reliability, and is just behind Anze Kopitar's 3.14, another fine example.

That's what we call being in good company.

The same applies to covered washers. With an average of 18.9 per game, he is ahead of Leon Draisaitl (18.8) and just behind Nikita Kucherov (19.0) and can also beat leaders Auston Matthews (20.1), Kirill Kaprizov (20.1) and Tomas Hertl (20.1) doesn't look far ahead.

On the trail of Damphousse

This data confirms, contrary to what many might think, that Suzuki would be the center of the first trio of multiple teams on the Bettman circuit. And if he continues like this on an annual salary of $7.875 million, he risks being a godsend as the finalization of this deal approaches.

If Pierre Turgeon and Vincent Damphousse were the last Habs centers to flirt with the 100-point plateau, Suzuki could well be next. Yes, he needs to significantly increase the number of times he blacks out the scoresheet since he has never reached 70 points.

So far this season he has taken a big step in that direction. With 34 points in 38 games, he is practically maintaining the pace of one point per game. And all with Cole Caufield, who hit the target less often than expected.