Nick Suzuki’s rise has reached the point where praise from the league’s biggest names feels less like a surprise and more like a natural next step.
After sharing the ice with him at the Olympics, Connor McDavid and Mitch Marner came away clearly impressed by the Canadiens captain, and both stars made sure to say so on TVA Sports and TV Sports.
“You don’t win the Selke Trophy by accident,” Connor McDavid said in an interview with TVA Sports.
McDavid pointed to the full package Suzuki brings, not just the numbers.
“We were just really impressed by the details in his game,” McDavid said in the TVA Sports interview. “I know, obviously, he won the Selke Trophy last year and put up 100 points and led that team to a pretty exciting season and just really impressed by his whole game. It’s great.”
Marner’s take was more specific, breaking down the parts of Suzuki’s game that stood out to him.
“He can play all three zones extremely well,” Mitch Marner said in his interview with TV Sports. “Great guy in the faceoff circle. Great guy at making plays and finding open ice to him goals, and that’s the type of hockey I like playing as well.”
Even though Marner and Suzuki didn’t get a ton of ice time together, the impression stuck.
“Just an exceptional player with a smart mind,” he added
For Suzuki, hearing that kind of feedback from two of the game’s elite meant a lot.
“It’s great to hear those two guys say that about me,” Suzki said to TVA Sports. “They’re great teammates at the Olympics.
It’s awesome to get to know them better and play with them and see what they do on a daily basis. It’s always the best compliments when it’s coming from your peers.”
That praise carries extra weight coming from McDavid, who has arguably been the best hockey player in the world for about a decade now. Marner, meanwhile, has had his share of Selke votes, which makes him a fitting voice to speak on the kind of two-way impact Suzuki brings.
Suzuki has reached the stage where his own opinions about other NHL players come with real credibility, too. There was a time when he was still the young player on the way up and others were the established names. That dynamic has changed.
Before his recent injury, he hadn’t even missed an NHL game in his career. McDavid and Marner couldn’t have said the same through the first seven years of theirs, and neither had played all 82 games to begin their careers.
Suzuki keeps finding ways to separate himself, whether it’s through his defense, his offense or the way he represents his country. The best players in the sport have noticed.
In Other News...
Canadiens Suddenly Face A Bigger Concern Ahead Of Bruins Trip
Nick Suzuki and Jake Evans were both absent from Canadiens practice Wednesday, with the team classifying the missed session as maintenance following the clubs most recent game. Montreal confirmed the two forwards were not on the ice but did not offer any further detail, leaving the group to sort through a little more uncertainty as it prepares for a trip to Boston.
Suzukis status is the more notable concern because he briefly left Tuesdays game before returning and scoring Montreals only goal, while Evans had already been managing discomfort since Monday. For a team heading into a divisional matchup with the Bruins, any question about the availability of two important centers is worth watching closely, especially with no immediate update on whether either will be ready to go. [Read more 🡒]
Cole Caufield Just Sparked A Bigger Canadiens Debate Than The Loss
Cole Caufield turned a frustrating night into a larger conversation for the Canadiens after Montreals overtime loss to Minnesota, shifting the focus from the result to how NHL games are being officiated. The forward took aim at the way referees handle controversial calls, adding another layer to a game that already left the Canadiens with plenty to sort through.
What made his comments resonate was the broader point behind them: Caufield wants more accountability from officials and believes they should be able to explain what they saw instead of simply signaling a penalty and moving on. For a Canadiens team still chasing consistency, it is the kind of postgame critique that can linger well beyond one loss, especially when it taps into a league-wide debate about transparency on the ice. [Read more 🡒]
Nick Suzuki Scare Had Canadiens Fans Holding Their Breath
Nick Suzuki gave Canadiens fans a scare in the third period, leaving the game briefly before returning to the ice and settling things down in a hurry. Montreals captain has been a central part of the clubs offense all season, appearing in 12 of the teams 18 games and continuing to drive play at the top of the lineup.
The good news for Montreal is that the concern did not linger long after the final whistle, with the team indicating Suzuki is fine after his short absence. Even so, any moment like that tends to tighten the mood around a team that leans so heavily on its top center, especially when he has been one of the most important contributors to the Canadiens attack. [Read more 🡒]