Has Suzuki Proved He’s a Top 10 Center?
Is Nick Suzuki already barging into hockey’s hall of royalty? A year ago, some analysts still called him a “nice little two-way piece.” Then 2024-25 happened: he detonated for 89 points, wore the ‘C’ like custom armor, and dragged a rebuilding Canadiens squad back into playoff lights that had been off for too long.
Yet the whispers linger—is he truly top-ten? Today we’ll peel back every stat line, leadership anecdote, clutch highlight, contract clause, and advanced-metric heat map to find out. Stick with me; the answer lands only in the final minute.
38 Comments
I hope suzuki with lead us to the cup
He is 9,10 or 11
Its Suzuki Point and Thomas and I feel that they are close
I wasnt aware this was still even a question.
He did prove he's a top tier 2-way first line center and his stats keep getting better every year with the team.
The real question is "does he really have a ceiling?" because every year people say "this is it" and then he show up the next season shifting a new gear.
That goal at 1:08 was neat.
Mcdavid, Mac, barkov, drai, Matthews, Crosby, eichel, Hughes, point, than could be aho, stu, Suzuki, hichier, or Thomas. I’d also bank on Elias pettersson getting back to being a top10 centre. Or even bedard potentially getting close this upcoming year.
Top 15? Absolutely.
Top 10? Debatable.
Give him a real second line to take some pressure off him and watch him hit 100pts
In my opinion, there are 7 that you cannot say he is better than. McDavid, Crosby, Matthews, Barkov, Eichel, Mackinnon and Draisaitl. So the question is: which of these players is he better than?
Point, Aho, Miller, Strome, Thomas, Thompson, Stutzle, Scheifele. To me, he is very comparable to Robert Thomas and Sebastian Aho. So he is fringe top 10, top 15 for sure.
He is also one of the iron man leaders. I think he hasn't missed a game since he started
Well, according to that intelligent, well respected dummy N. Kypreos , Suzuki is not even a top 25 center….so there’s that….🐀
He just needs to get better at face offs. He is almost there.
I would that he is the best center in the NHL
ole ole ole ole ole !!!!!
Top 10 NO
Where did you find these statistics such as the board battle retrievals and cross ice seam interceptions?
3:49 this goal is so underrated
When you have the power to decide the team bus departing time, you are absolutely are a top 10 C.😊
I would say probably mroe like top 10-15, but he's getting up there
He had a top 10 season last year. We'll see how he can repeat!
In the playoff run/memorial run of Guelph, you could tell then and there that he was a gamer. Dude litterally carried his team to a memorial cup and was named MVP of the tournament.
Are people gonna ask that question his entire career ? Yes he is !
Well there is 32 teams, 128 centers and Suzuki was 6th two season ago in scoring for centers and 5th last season, 5th and 6th out of 128 centers, So ya hes top 10
He's also not getting enough credit for the 2021 playoffs final run. He was the offensive dynamo and 1st C of that team as a 22 yo.
Great stats
I think he is one underrated forward in the league, let alone an underrated center. Last year all we heard was he was a 2c and the year before he was a 3c replacing a 2c when needed. But I knew during the playoff run of 2021 how he and Cole will excel as I watched their potential. His team mates knew then is why they chose him to be captain over Gally and other veteran Habs.
He earned that C. Boys gonna be hall of fame. Once our 2nd line is sorted he’s gonna blow the comp away in points.
He never stops working, how many players are better each year with no regression in any year. This is rare. And a great captain in a the toughest pro sport marketing area anywhere.
Nick Suzuki is so good and such a clutch player. He is known as Captain Clutch. A complete 200 foot player who had 89 points last year and is also excellent defensively as well. Yet somehow he is still underrated and underappreciated even though he plays in a hockey hotbed like Montreal.
He's a 100pt player this year, both Caufield and Slaf will have nice bumps in their point production, and having two PP units that car score, it'll make it tougher to defend. He's a top 6 this year.
Suzuki reminds me a lot of Koivu, my favorite player ever, not in his style of play but his leadership. Quiet but plays hard every shift, takes on the pressure of Montreal and its fans. A true leader on and off the ice.
Do you mind some honest feedback?
I loved the content of the video. You had good points and it was well presented.
But the background audio was too loud and became annoying after a while. I’d lower it if I were you.
Where would we be without him? Bergevin wanted Cody Glass, another player whose name I forget, before Nick Suzuki.
yes.
Im a Habs fan so I might be biased but im gonna try to be as unbiased as possible. This is what I think Nick Suzuki's best possible season next year could look like:
82 GP: 34g 68a 102p +28
-Lady Bing Winner
-Selkie Trophy Finalist
I love Suzuki. And I think there's 100 point potential in him. If you look at his growth for his whole Hockey life. Hes take. A considerable step year after year in one way or another. If we look as his time in the NHL. What has he done?
2019-20: 71GP 13G 28A 41P 6 PIM
15 (True +/of -3)2020-21: 56GP 15G 26A 41P 26 PIM
5 (True +/of +2)2021-22 82GP 21G 41A 61P 30 PIM
29 (True +/of +70)2022-23 82GP 26G 40A 66P PIM 40
13 (True +/of +65)2023-24 82GP 33G 44A 77P 36 PIM
14 (True +/of +35)2024-25 82GP 30G 59A 89P PIM 8 +19 (True +/- of +39)
Now before I continue. I should clarify what True Plus/Minus is. It basically is the players personal plus minus subtracted from the teams plus minus. This shows the difference positively they have on their team. If you have a negitive plus minus, this means you make your team actively worse when you step on the ice. If it's plus, you make them better. I think you get the idea. But you see his point production. Hes taken a + every season of his career in either PPG or pure points by a pretty considerable amount. The only time he didn't really take a jump was 2022-23 but he also did have RHP and Anderson as his line for the last 40 games of that season. He also was in his best defensive form that season statistically. I think from the discipline, defensive, and offensive potential he has shown along with his development, personality, and overall team around him heavily improving offensively, I think Suzuki will take another step on the offensive end. Goals wise, I think hes plateaued as a low-mid 30 goal guy. But its the playmaking for me i think that can take another step. His vision and iq have always been his best traits. And they are elite. But we've also seen his overall puck control, accuracy, and power improve pretty considerably from the start of his NHL career to now. I think with his improved teammates along with him improving as a pure passer, it should cause him to generate a couple more assists this season. Defensively, I think this is probably my most optimistic prediction. But hey, he did just get 13th in Selkie voting I believe this past season. He's also proved throughout his last 5 years to be a very good 2 way forward. Unfortunately his team isn't great defensively and is young. Which probably means his stats will look worse then they should. But I think if Suzuki himself shows the same energy defensively as he did in 2022-23, along with his team despite not on paper looking good defensively it taking another jump with having his best defensive team as a #1 Center. I think there's also a bit of a lack of other 2 way talent. Like J-E-E, Jarvis, and like Koptiar? I assume Barkov Reinhart are once again #1 and #2. So i think that 3rd spot could be vulnerable and taken by a guy like Suzuki. Lady Bing i honestly thought he could've won this last season. I think hes one of the most disciplined forwards in the league and this year really emphasized on focusing to be as disciplined as possible. He only took 3 penalties the whole season on 1644 minutes. Thats an average of 1 penalty every 548 minutes or every 28 shifts! Overall, Suzuki is a very complete player. I don't ever see Hart, Rockets, Lindsey, or Art Ross potential from him. But as a #1 Center, I believe as soon as now he can hit 100+ points, be a top 3 defensive forward, and be the most disciplined forward as well.
4:30 isnt exactly right, it was a backhand from the side of the net
The fact he wasn't chosen for the 4 nation face off is crazy. I'm willing to say he's the most underrated player of all the NHL. (unless you're a habs fan)
More importantly than any one player…Will the Habs win a Cup within the next five years?