A ‘whirlwind’ season
It has been a busy year so far for Montreal Canadiens prospect Nick Suzuki
“Probably just a whirlwind.”
Those were the words from Canadiens prospect Nick Suzuki when asked to describe what this season has been like for him.
It started last September when the Canadiens acquired Suzuki from the Vegas Golden Knights — along with Tomas Tatar and a second-round pick at this year’s NHL Entry Draft — in exchange for Max Pacioretty. Suzuki took part in training camp with the Canadiens before being returned to the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack and then played for Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship in Vancouver. In January, the Attack traded Suzuki to the Guelph Storm and he finished the OHL regular season with 34-60-94 totals in 59 games split between the two teams.
The next chapter in Suzuki’s 2018-19 season began Thursday night when the Storm visited the Ottawa 67’s for Game 1 of the OHL championship series.
“This is Exhibit A of why you always let guys be over-riped rather than underdeveloped,” NBC hockey analyst Pierre McGuire said about Suzuki during an interview on TSN 690 Radio.
Suzuki said he was disappointed when the Canadiens cut him at training camp, but in hindsight thinks it was the best thing for him. He said the highlight for him at training camp was hearing the Bell Centre crowd roar as he took the ice for the annual Red vs. White scrimmage.
“It’s something I’ll never forget and I want to get back to playing at the Bell Centre in front of those fans,” Suzuki said during a phone interview from Guelph.
“My goal is to play in the NHL,” he added. “I thought I was putting my best foot forward (at training camp) to try and make that goal come true. But they wanted me to go back to junior and you just have to accept that right away and be prepared to play in the OHL. I think it was probably a better decision by Montreal to put me back there. I’ve really grown this season and all the opportunities I’m getting here in junior have been really good for me.”
The Canadiens told Suzuki,who was selected in the first round (13th overall) by the Golden Knights at the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, they wanted him to work on skating faster and playing the game at a quicker pace.
“They wanted me to come back to junior and play at a faster pace than the average OHL player and try to be ahead of everyone,” Suzuki explained. “So I’ve tried to do that as best as I could and I think it’s really helped my game and taken it to another level.”
After Marc Bergevin traded Pacioretty to the Golden Knights, the Canadiens GM said Suzuki was the key player in the deal for him. It’s a trade that has worked out very well for the Canadiens so far with the 28-year-old Tatar setting an NHL career high for points this season (58), including 25 goals. The pick Bergevin acquired from Vegas gives the Canadiens two in the second round of this year’s draft and 10 in total, including the 15th overall pick. Pacioretty had 22-18-40 totals in 66 regular-season games and led the Golden Knights in playoff scoring with 5-6-11 totals in seven games while playing on a line with Paul Stastny and Mark Stone, who was acquired from the Ottawa Senators at the NHL trade deadline.
This is one of those trades that could end up helping both teams.
“That was great to hear,” Suzuki said about Bergevin noting that he was the key player in the deal for the Canadiens. “Just to know he has that much faith in me to trade his captain. I want to prove him right that he wanted me and me being a key part of the deal for him is pretty special and I just want to do the best I can to show that he made the right decision.”
So far, so good.