Nick Suzuki’s stint on the shelf is over, and the Montreal Canadiens are getting their captain back just in time for a matchup with the Utah Mammoth.
The team announced that Suzuki has fully recovered from his upper-body injury and will rejoin the lineup this evening after missing six games. For Montreal, that means the end of a rare break in a run of durability that had defined the 27-year-old center’s career since his NHL debut in 2019.
Suzuki had played 546 straight regular-season games before the injury, the second-longest active streak in the league and the 20th-longest in NHL history. That run came to an end after he blocked a shot against the San Jose Sharks on October 20th.
Before getting hurt, Suzuki was producing at his usual high level. He had five goals and 12 points in nine games, added a +6 rating, and was averaging 21:47 of ice time per night. Even with the missed time, he still ranks as the Canadiens’ third-highest scorer.
What makes that start even more impressive is that he was outpacing last season’s scoring pace. Suzuki put together a monster 2023-24 campaign, finishing with 29 goals and 101 points in 82 games, along with a +37 rating. He averaged 20:49 of ice time, won 50.4% of his faceoffs, and took home the Selke Trophy as the league’s top defensive forward.
Montreal, meanwhile, has managed to keep rolling without him. The Canadiens went 5-0-1 over the six games Suzuki missed, climbing to second place in the tightly packed Atlantic Division. Jacob Fowler has been the biggest reason for that surge, and the offense has kept humming too, with the club averaging nearly four goals per game during that stretch.
If that level of play continues, Suzuki’s return could give Montreal the boost it needs to start pulling away in the division.
In Other News...
Florian Xhekaj Suddenly Faces Real Pressure In Canadiens Lineup
Florian Xhekajs night against the Winnipeg Jets turned into one of those moments that can linger well beyond the final horn. The Canadiens rookie dropped the gloves in a game that was still manageable, and the sequence helped set the stage for a wild finish as Montreal saw its lead disappear in an overtime loss. It was the kind of momentum shift that can leave a coach weighing not just the emotion of the moment, but the cost of it.
Martin St-Louis did not call out Xhekaj publicly, which fits the coachs usual measured approach, but the bigger issue may be what comes next for the young forward. Montreal is getting healthier, and when the lineup starts to tighten up, every shift matters more. For Xhekaj, the fight may not have drawn an immediate rebuke, but it could still make his place in the lineup a lot less secure. [Read more 🡒]
Martin St-Louis Just Called Out A Canadiens Problem Fans Can't Ignore
The Canadiens left Winnipeg with a result that said far more about their own play than about the scraps that broke out along the way. Montreal had built a 4-0 lead, but the game slipped away in overtime, and Martin St-Louis made it clear afterward that the issue was not the fights so much as what happened at five-on-five, where Winnipeg controlled much of the night.
For a team still sitting second in the Atlantic Division, the loss landed as a reminder that the margin for error can disappear fast, especially when two important forwards like Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach are out of the lineup. St-Louis message was less about one bad bounce than a bigger concern the Canadiens cannot really brush aside, because the way they played at even strength is the part of this story that lingers. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Suddenly Have A No-Cost Roster Decision Kent Hughes Must Weigh
Waiver season has handed Kent Hughes an unexpected bit of roster flexibility, with a pair of available players suddenly giving the Canadiens a chance to add help without paying a trade price. Montreal is at least evaluating the fit, which makes sense for a front office that has tried to balance immediate depth with longer-range planning as it shapes the roster.
The decision comes down to what the Canadiens value more right now: a younger piece who could grow into a bigger role over time, or a veteran who might help sooner but comes with a shorter runway. No move has been made yet, and for Montreal the real intrigue is whether Hughes sees this as a rare no-cost chance to address a need before another club gets there first. [Read more 🡒]