The Canadiens are going to have to get by without Nick Suzuki for a while.
Montreal announced that its captain will miss 2-4 weeks with an upper-body injury, ending one of the longest iron man streaks the league has ever seen. Owen Beck has been recalled from AHL Laval to fill the opening.
Suzuki’s run of 546 straight games will stop at 20th all time in NHL history and as the second-longest active streak behind Brent Burns’ 1,017. It will also mark the first time Montreal has dressed without No. 14 since Game 82 of the 2018-19 season, a win over Toronto in which Andrew Shaw had two points.
The injury issue may have shown up in Montreal’s overtime loss to the Sharks, where Suzuki led all forwards with 21:03 of ice time. Before the update was public, Eric Engels of Sportsnet noted that the 2026 Selke winner took a shot to the hand in the San Jose game and needed treatment afterward. That points to a hand injury serious enough to keep a player of Suzuki’s importance out of the lineup.
It’s a major blow for a Canadiens team that has leaned heavily on him again this season. After breaking out for 101 points last year, the 27-year-old has picked up right where he left off with 12 points in nine games. He’s also carrying a huge workload, averaging 21:47 per night, which ranks fifth among NHL forwards, while handling both power-play and penalty-kill duties.
Montreal has opened the season at 4-3-2, and the goal prevention has been an issue early, with the club allowing the ninth most goals so far. Now the challenge gets tougher.
There are capable two-way centers on the roster, but none of them can truly replace Suzuki over an extended stretch. Head coach Martin St.
Louis has until tomorrow night in Chicago to rework the middle of the ice, and Alex Newhook and Philip Danault are likely to see expanded roles. Together, they have six points in 18 games.
Beck is back in the picture after being called up 10 days ago and appearing in two games for the Canadiens, where he was held off the scoresheet. The 22-year-old has bottom-six upside, but he has not had much of a runway with the NHL club because of the veteran centers ahead of him. In those two games, he averaged 7:23 of ice time and did not take a faceoff, though he did show last season he can handle that job well, winning just shy of 59% of his 75 draws.
The timeline suggests Suzuki could be sidelined into November, with an away game in Boston on the 12th sitting exactly three weeks away today. Montreal doesn’t appear headed for a panic move right away, but this still reshapes a stretch where the team needs to find some rhythm. The Canadiens have just $2.25MM in cap space, and while Dylan Larkin is the big name mentioned, the broader question is whether a prolonged absence from Suzuki could push general manager Kent Hughes toward adding top-six center help sooner rather than later.
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