Better contract? Stutzle or Suzuki?

[CanadianHockey]

It's Stu. He's has already shown he can hit 90 points and has 100+ point potential. He's not bad defensively and - given his age - has plenty of time to improve that facet of his game. I think Suzuki ends up closer to Zetterberg than Bergeron when discussing defensive ability, which is still high praise. Not sure he can hit Zetterberg's offensive peak though.

 

[Akrapovince]

I know what Suzuki can do in the playoffs, and he’s played even better this year than the run the Habs went on.

Stützle gets better as games get feistier but he’s still an unknown in playoff hockey.

Ottawa needs a dynamic 100 point play driver and Stützle has the ability to do that. We can sort of cover what Suzuki does with Pinto, Norris or Greig.

Finding that game breaking player is what we need and I think Stützle gives us the best chance at that. So for Ottawa I think Stützle is the easy answer.

 

[Talik Sanis]

This has to be a troll post.

I would say Stutzle and Suzuki are about the same value. Stutzle is better offensively, but Suzuki is quickly becoming a really good two-way center like Bergeron, Kopitar, etc.

I expect Suzuki to be a 1PPG player for the next ten years and win one Selke at some point. Meanwhile, Stutzle will be a 90+ pts player on average and will be the Sens' best scorer for the foreseeable future.

I dunno why these threads always have to turn into bashing one player over the other.

The man is among the most overrated players in the entire league due to Montreal media and fan bias that warps him into an exceptional two-way player when he has only a marginally positive impact defensely.

There wasn't a hint of bashing in that post.

Montral fan? or nordiques fan who has yet to move on 30 years after they left? The latter obviously. I know a lot of "montreal fans" who does nothing but shit on them like your pathetic ass.

I started watching hockey thirteen years after the Nordiques moved to Colorado.

The latest in a long line of second-line centers forced into first line roles with the Canadiens is nothing special.

 

[Frank Drebin]

The ignore feature is wonderful but you do miss a lot of context

 

[PULSATING]

This is like Team Edward vs Team Jacob. They’re both losers.

 

[Just Linda]

Ya we know he’s better than Suzuki, thanks for pointing it out.

Typo. Meant to say secondary assists.

 

[JianYang]

An important criteria for me is also how they perform in the playoffs.

I've been impressed with Suzuki in the couple of playoff years that he has participated in so far. He seems to play better as the stage gets bigger.

I don't think ottawa has made it to the playoffs yet in stutzle's window so that's a bit of an unknown.

 

[viceroy]

This is like Team Edward vs Team Jacob. They’re both losers.

Habs fan here. I can agree with that.

 

[NikolaTesla]

The man is among the most overrated players in the entire league due to Montreal media and fan bias that warps him into an exceptional two-way player when he has only a marginally positive impact defensely.

There wasn't a hint of bashing in that post.


I started watching hockey thirteen years after the Nordiques moved to Colorado.

The latest in a long line of second-line centers forced into first line roles with the Canadiens is nothing special.

How many first line centers are there in the league at the moment?

 

[Unbiased Fan]

Congratulations

?

 

[Mrb1p]

I think its still Stutzle but its a pretty big toss up. Both are ~ 8-14 range 1Cs.

Do you think Suzuki's 5v5 linemates are holding him back?

I don't see a 90 point player in Suzuki. Even with a 18.5% shooting percentage, he's still only on pace for 78 points. He's just not a productive enough player at 5v5.

View attachment 843133

These are his 82 game paces at 5v5 for each year of his career:

• 8g 25p
• 13g 34p
• 9g 34p
• 14g 41p
• 17g 35p

It's really hard to score even 85 points with only 35-40 5v5 points. Of the 22 guys who scored 85+ points last year, only 2 had less than 45 5v5 points (Zibanejad and RNH), and they were both on two of the most lethal PP1 units in the league.

For Suzuki to reach 90 points, the Habs PP is going to have an incredible season, or something fundamental about his 5v5 play will need to change.


Stutzle already has a 90 point season (95 point pace), and he did that as a 20/21 year old. Barring injury, I think it's extremely likely that he does it again.

Rel xGF% over the last 3 seasons:

Stutzle: 2.70
Suzuki: 0.77

This is the first year in the last 3 where Suzuki has had better possession metrics. And Stutzle is 2.5 years younger.

Stutzle is a bargain. This is the first season where Suzuki is really earning his contract. Hopefully he can continue, but I don't think it's ever going to look like a huge discount.

If only you watched hockey instead of just posting on this board you'd know that Slaf had been shit for the first 30 games of the season and Caufield has been absolute ass since the season started. Couple that with Matheson being used 20 minutes a game at 5v5 and you have a recipe for holding back a player.

Suzuki is going to score 100 points the moment he gets offensive support.

 

[EHCler]

time will tell. given current performance both contracts seem good value for money but given current performance Suzuki is the better player.
If I had free choice of picking up one of the playern with their contracts I take Stützle.

 

[JianYang]

This has to be a troll post.

I would say Stutzle and Suzuki are about the same value. Stutzle is better offensively, but Suzuki is quickly becoming a really good two-way center like Bergeron, Kopitar, etc.

I expect Suzuki to be a 1PPG player for the next ten years and win one Selke at some point. Meanwhile, Stutzle will be a 90+ pts player on average and will be the Sens' best scorer for the foreseeable future.

I dunno why these threads always have to turn into bashing one player over the other.

Calling Suzuki a mediocre 2nd line center puts him at around the 45-50th best center in the league.

When some people talk about the value of first round picks, or try to evaluate players, it's almost as if they forget that there are 32 teams in this league now.

 

[frightenedinmatenum2]

I think it will come out that Stutzle was playing through some sort of injuries this year.

If you ask me which contract I would take on a franchise going forward, Stutzle 7 years left at 8.35M or Suzuki 6 years left at 7.85M, zero hesitation, it's Stutzle.

He was one of the most productive U21 players the league has seen in the cap era and has the trajectory to be a top offensive player. Maybe not a McDavid/Kucherov/MacKinnon tier, but slightly below that in the 90-110 point range.

Add in the projections for the cap, and that contract is going to look ridiculous.

The only thing I don't like about Stutzle sometimes is his body language/reaction on the ice, but that's me playing armchair sports psychologist. I love how he dives, and people make threads about it, especially Canadiens fans. It's one of my joys in life.

An important criteria for me is also how they perform in the playoffs.

I've been impressed with Suzuki in the couple of playoff years that he has participated in so far. He seems to play better as the stage gets bigger.

I don't think ottawa has made it to the playoffs yet in stutzle's window so that's a bit of an unknown.

Wait, the NHL has playoffs?