The prevailing narrative around the Montreal Canadiens and their rebuild has been that they lack elite talent. While an injection of elite talent may be the simplest answer to finishing the rebuild, it precludes the possibility that they may already have such talent in their midst. Of course, any rebuilding team should always strive to continue adding such talent, but the pursuit of said talent can often cause fans to miss the forest for the trees.
If Thursday night’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers, and this season in general have taught us anything, it may be that Nick Suzuki is on his way to being such a talent for Montreal.
He debuted with the Habs in 2019-20 with 41 points, and then equaled that mark the following year, doing so in 15 fewer games. His next two seasons saw him reach the 82-game mark, scoring 61, and 66 points respectively, continuing his ascent despite operating on a team in the midst of a full rebuild. With a rotating cast of linemates, and on a team that had and lost a generational goaltending talent during his tenure, Suzuki has done nothing but improve year over year.
Against Philadelphia, he scored a goal, assisted on another, and had a second goal disallowed because he touched it a hair above the crossbar. He was a difference maker in a low-event game, and even his disallowed goal was special, as it required him to corral the puck with multiple mid-air touches. The sheer skill of his game is evident, every time his skates touch the ice.
The Habs have only figured out the best configuration for his line in the latter half of this season, and he’s unsurprisingly turned it into yet another career year. His next point will see him reach the 70-point plateau for the first time in his career, and he still stands a chance of reaching the point-per-game mark. Whether or not he pulls that off, this will be a fifth career-year in a row, and yet another step towards him joining the upper echelon of NHL centres.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it feels like the Habs are starting to see it. There is plenty of work for them to do in order to ensure that they emerge from that tunnel as a wagon, but the important thing is that the light isn’t so far off. Suzuki is a big reason why that light is even visible, and if they continue building around him, they’ll step out into that light sooner than later.
The Canadiens shouldn’t stop striving for elite talent, but we should acknowledge that they already have Nick Suzuki on the edge of becoming precisely that.
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