Player Discussion Nick Suzuki Part X

[Goldenhands]

He is not a center, plain simple... the heavy 200 ft. work that requires the center position is very demanding and I dont see it with Nick, he isnt strong and fast enough for the position and his game lacks pace as it was in junior... I think he would be a terrific winger though, less responsablities and all...

We will have to draft another center, I really like Bourgault mid 1st...

 

[Big Empty]

He is not a center, plain simple... the heavy 200 ft. work that requires the center position is very demanding and I dont see it with Nick, he isnt strong and fast enough for the position and his game lacks pace as it was in junior... I think he would be a terrific winger though, less responsablities and all...

We will have to draft another center, I really like Bourgault mid 1st...

Really... Suzuki is not a centre?

Gonna have to disagree with you

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

We get it Suzuki might be a bit out of his mind right now , it's only his second second in the nhl , let's take a deep breath , decrease his icetime a bit and that's it .

He's still on pace with 50 points in 82 games season

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

We get it Suzuki might be a bit out of his mind right now , it's only his second second in the nhl , let's take a deep breath , decrease his icetime a bit and that's it .

He's still on pace with 50 points in 82 games season

...Sophomore Slump...he'll be fine...everyone needs to put the razor's away...

 

[Non Player Canadiens]

He is not a center, plain simple... the heavy 200 ft. work that requires the center position is very demanding and I dont see it with Nick, he isnt strong and fast enough for the position and his game lacks pace as it was in junior... I think he would be a terrific winger though, less responsablities and all...

We will have to draft another center, I really like Bourgault mid 1st...

his game has been off for a while now but let's not forget how incredible he looked in the play-ins and in the first 10 games of the season. that wasn't an accident IMO, that's his true potential.

is it an injury? COVID fatigue? something else? we'll see...

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

...Sophomore Slump...he'll be fine...everyone needs to put the razor's away...

Im more worried about our d-squad , Drouin and our bottom6 than Suzuki. Like he's not total garbage.

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

Im more worried about our d-squad , Drouin and our bottom6 than Suzuki. Like he's not total garbage.

Drouin isn't total garbage; he is actually our most skilled player...he just plays like total garbage most of the time cuz he's been getting away with it since as long as he's played hockey, so he never learned any grit or determination...I imagine in his mind, he's playing fine, maybe even thinks he's playing well...cuz he has nothing to compare it to except the lazy floating he's always done...

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

Drouin isn't total garbage; he is actually our most skilled player...he just plays like total garbage most of the time cuz he's been getting away with it since as long as he's played hockey, so he never learned any grit or determination...I imagine in his mind, he's playing fine, maybe even thinks he's playing well...cuz he has nothing to compare it to except the lazy floating he's always done...

Drouin will always somehow get his 50 points season but he's not a player that you should rely on. He would fit probably in a second line as the 6th player on a top 6 with a good DUO that supports him but still atleast Suzuki is trying compared to him and I think Suzuki been playing way too much hockey this season. He had 20min+ games alot.

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

Drouin will always somehow get his 50 points season but he's not a player that you should rely on. He would fit probably in a second line as the 6th player on a top 6 with a good DUO that supports him but still atleast Suzuki is trying compared to him and I think Suzuki been playing way too much hockey this season. He had 20min+ games alot.

Suzuki is tired, he's a kid and he'll be fine next year, I have no doubt...I never wanted Drouin on this team when he was a kid with the Mooseheads, didn't want him when Bargain Bin traded for him, and still don' want him...as ridiculously Naturally Talented as the kid is, he's everything that's wrong with hockey; a spoiled, lazy, smirking PoS that thinks he's a superstar...always has been, always will be...I'd take Lehkonen over him if I was building a team...

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

Suzuki is tired, he's a kid and he'll be fine next year, I have no doubt...I never wanted Drouin on this team when he was a kid with the Mooseheads, didn't want him when Bargain Bin traded for him, and still don' want him...as ridiculously Naturally Talented as the kid is, he's everything that's wrong with hockey; a spoiled, lazy, smirking PoS that thinks he's a superstar...always has been, always will be...I'd take Lehkonen over him if I was building a team...

Indeed he's pretty useless , atleast his contract ends up soon , but im still scared to give that money to Danault or something
yuck

 

[morhilane]

...Sophomore Slump...he'll be fine...everyone needs to put the razor's away...

A sophomore slump is when a player gets less points in his 2nd season than in the 1st one.

Suzuki doesn't qualify for it yet.

 

[Grand Admiral Thrawn]

Too bad the AHL has almost no games for the next few weeks.

Sending Suzuki down to the Rocket to find his game and confidence would help. Much like they did with KK last season.

Nick has been crapping the bed for a good 6 weeks now.

 

[Gally11]

He really needs to work on his endurance this summer and he’ll be fine

 

[Leon Lucius Black]

His issue is he has been overplayed and he looks completely burnt out, yet he still keeps playing 17-19 minutes a game.

Lower his minutes, give KK some additional time and put Evans in at C over Staal and our centers will look much better.

 

[Supersonic]

Montreal:

get traded as a prospect (Serge), or stick around long enough to become the club’s whipping boy...

 

[Mrb1p]

Its not about being tired, slow or what ever. He just doesnt have any pace and doesnt look to challenge opposing players at all. He 100% plays like Danault out there and I wont f***ing have it. He was so good last year even when he didnt score. Its unexplainable.

Idk if I wanna blame coaching or just him reverting back to.his meh chl days but this is very, very concerning.

 

[Tyson]

Simply can't skate at this level. Might be incredibly smart but his footspeed is AHL quality

 

[Garnet76]

I dont think we should forget how the pandemic is affecting people. He's young and I feel everyone is affected by this differently. I'm not saying this is a excuse by any means because every player is dealing with it. I just see how it's affecting society and assume the players have the same issues.

 

[morhilane]

His issue is he has been overplayed and he looks completely burnt out, yet he still keeps playing 17-19 minutes a game.

Lower his minutes, give KK some additional time and put Evans in at C over Staal and our centers will look much better.

Suzuki manage 1-2 minutes more TOI than KK per games under Ducharme despite playing one more or sometimes less shifts than KK (all game mode included).

The coach is trying to manage his minutes, Suzuki isn't getting the memo...

 

[Supersonic]

Its not about being tired, slow or what ever. He just doesnt have any pace and doesnt look to challenge opposing players at all. He 100% plays like Danault out there and I wont f***ing have it. He was so good last year even when he didnt score. Its unexplainable.

Idk if I wanna blame coaching or just him reverting back to.his meh chl days but this is very, very concerning.

when you say CHL days do you mean when he was OHL MVP during the playoffs? I get that he looks sluggish out there now, but i’m not worrier about this kid at all. Sophomore slumps happen

edit: wasn’t he voted one of the hardest players to play against too?

 

[Mrb1p]

when you say CHL days do you mean when he was OHL MVP during the playoffs? I get that he looks sluggish out there now, but i’m not worrier about this kid at all. Sophomore slumps happen

edit: wasn’t he voted one of the hardest players to play against too?

Nope, thats the year he shed the floater thing and actually was impactful, but now he looks exactly as he looked in his D+1, floating around just being content with nothing happening on the ice.

Very weird player, actual Jekyll and Hyde of this team. He can be an absolutely elite player at times, as he has shown in the playins and in the first 20ish games of the season, and he can also be, huh, is he even better than Drouin right now ?

 

[Andrei79]

I'll give Suzuki the benefit of the doubt.

He was excellent for 90 games, before this slump.

It's true he doesn't seem as well conditioned as last year. But, he's also 21 years old asked to be the number 1C. That in itself isn't necessarily a bad thing or a reason for a slump.

But, look at how the D defends. The centers aren't just giving support, they're almost asked to be a third D out there. None of them, aside from Romanov, can even make a decent breakout pass. Suzuki's been a responsible center ever since he's been on the team, but at some point when, at 21, you have to work harder on D, work harder for the breakout, then face the other teams best lines for 17-18 mins... Well yeah, you might get burnt out or face an injury.

 

[Mrb1p]

Also, people should stop holding our two high end centers to the same standards they hold Danault and other crap players, those guys can and should be elite, the team goes nowhere without them. Its not fine at all for Suzuki to play like he has played.

On one hand, its nice to see that he produces at a very good clip even while playing this way, on the other hand its really f***ing scary for the future to see him play like that.
Same can be said for Kotkaniemi, really f***ing scary that he has at times just flat out not produced anything despite looking good, but also on the other hand, I don't think he has ever looked out of place in the NHL the way Nick is looking right now, aside from strength related issues which are very overstated, its a natural progression.

 

[Mrb1p]

I'll give Suzuki the benefit of the doubt.

He was excellent for 90 games, before this slump.

It's true he doesn't seem as well conditioned as last year. But, he's also 21 years old asked to be the number 1C. That in itself isn't necessarily a bad thing or a reason for a slump.

But, look at how the D defends. The centers aren't just giving support, they're almost asked to be a third D out there. None of them, aside from Romanov, can even make a decent breakout pass. Suzuki's been a responsible center ever since he's been on the team, but at some point when, at 21, you have to work harder on D, work harder for the breakout, then face the other teams best lines for 17-18 mins... Well yeah, you might get burnt out or face an injury.

Yeah, he has been but has this lead to him just sitting back that much ? Is it conditioning related or just coaching ? How much is this going to affect his actual game breaking abilities ?

Almost every star in the league goes from offensive dynamo to responsible two-way star, the Habs like to just skip that part and have them as responsible two-way okay-ish players. So insanely bad at developing.

 

[Miller Time]

some of you guys are too much...

Suzuki, 21 years old, 2nd season (after starting last year just barely making the roster), 1st as a pencilled in top-6 player...

leads forwards in ice time
improved his ppg
leads C's in scoring

shows very expected inconsistency, yet is handling the responsibility while performing at that level...

His season is absolutely a success thus far, and very good indication that he's well on his way to be a very good, if not elite, top-line caliber C.

patience is both necessary and well justified. some posters just need to check their own, unrealistic, expectations... not his fault his GM was/is so clueless in roster building.