When Marc Bergevin signed him to an eight-year contract extension in 2021, he had the vision that Nick Suzuki would become one of the NHL's first elite centers. The Canadian captain completes the second year of this pact. What is this exactly?
According to data compiled by Sportlogiq, the 24-year-old Suzuki continues to be one of the NHL's best forwards in numerous categories. Undoubtedly, the most telling is the amount of time he owned the puck in the offensive zone.
He controls the Canadian's attack with the puck on his stick for an average of 57 seconds per game. This puts him in 13th place, eight seconds or less behind Leon Draisaitl (1:05), Mikko Rantanen (1:04), Kirill Kaprizov (1:03) and Patrick Kane (1:00). And he is ahead of William Nylander (0:56).
If we only look at centers, he is ranked sixth, behind big names like Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Jack Hughes.
Controlling the puck is one thing. But when it comes to removing it, we are no further ahead. However, Suzuki maintains a 13.8% turnover rate. This is a respectable figure, although there is room for improvement.
However, players in this category sometimes rely on their playmates. With the first unit appearing more stable in almost ten games, Suzuki should become more efficient.
“My darling, my darling”
Martin St-Louis often repeats: “The NHL is not an easy league.” Nobody gives gifts to each other. Even less when it comes to protecting the puck. “My darling, my darling,” as Smeagol would say in The Lord of the Rings.
So to get it you have to chase the carrier, apply pressure, rush to jump on him when he is free and win the one-on-one battles to get it.
Here too, the Habs center player is one of the best in his field. His 3.03 battles won per game ranks him 12th among strikers, tied with Sidney Crosby, a model of reliability, and just behind Anze Kopitar's 3.14, another fine example.
That's what we call being in good company.
The same applies to covered washers. With an average of 18.9 per game, he is ahead of Leon Draisaitl (18.8) and just behind Nikita Kucherov (19.0) and can also beat leaders Auston Matthews (20.1), Kirill Kaprizov (20.1) and Tomas Hertl (20.1) doesn't look far ahead.
On the trail of Damphousse
This data confirms, contrary to what many might think, that Suzuki would be the center of the first trio of multiple teams on the Bettman circuit. And if he continues like this on an annual salary of $7.875 million, he risks being a godsend as the finalization of this deal approaches.
If Pierre Turgeon and Vincent Damphousse were the last Habs centers to flirt with the 100-point plateau, Suzuki could well be next. Yes, he needs to significantly increase the number of times he blacks out the scoresheet since he has never reached 70 points.
So far this season he has taken a big step in that direction. With 34 points in 39 games, he is practically maintaining the pace of one point per game. And all with Cole Caufield, who hit the target less often than expected.
Nick Suzuki – Average per game – NHL forward rankings
- Time of possession
in the offensive zone 0:57 13 - Completed passes
in the offensive zone 19.4 10 - Loose pucks recovered 18.9 on 9th
- 1v1 fight
won 3.0 13 - Fluctuation rate 13.8% 31
- Goals 0.31 98
- Goal chances 2.3 94
centers – Time of ball possession in the attacking zone
- Connor McDavid 1:19
- Nathan MacKinnon 1:16
- Jack Hughes 1:13
- Jack Eichel 1:11
- Matthew Barzal 1:05
- Nick Suzuki 0:57
centers – battles won
- Sean Couturier 4.14
- John Tavares 3.76
- Tomas Hertl 3.62
- Aleksander Barkow 3.42
- Dylan Larkin 3.32
- Ryan O'Reilly 3.23
- Vincent Trocheck 3.21
- Adam Lowry 3.18
- Auston Matthews 3.17
- Anze Kopitar 3.14
- Jordan Staal 3.05
- Nick Suzuki 3.03
- Sidney Crosby 3.03
centers – Puck recovery
- Auston Matthews 1/20
- Tomas Hertl 20.1
- Connor McDavid 19.9
- Robert Thomas 19.6
- Mark Scheifele 19.3
- Tim Stützle 19.1
- Nick Suzuki 18.9
- Vincent Trocheck 18.7
- Sean Couturier June 18th
- Jack Hughes 18.5