Team: Nick Suzuki
Photo courtesy of tsn.ca

Fantasy Summary

Top-six forward with high offensive upside. Capable of playing both center and wing. A dynamic offensive force who is an excellent playmaker but also has great goal-scoring abilities as well.


Observations

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August 2020 – It was a coming out party for Suzuki in Montreal’s short postseason run. Not only did he lead the team in points with 10, but he also led them with four goals. Suzuki was Montreal’s most impactful forward through the beginning of their play-in series to the end of their first round loss. In the offensive zone he uses his soft hands and edges to give himself space and time to make a play. Despite his small stature he is not afraid of getting into the dirty areas and driving the net. Defensively Suzuki has a very active stick proven by his team leading 10 takeaways. If these playoffs made anything clear about Suzuki’s game it was that he is going to be a very important piece to the Canadiens going forward. Pablo Ruiz

 

March 2020 – Coming into the 2019-2020 season Suzuki was on the bubble to make the team, but after a strong training camp and preseason, he forced his way onto the team with a role as a 4th line winger. Fast forward to the beginning of March and the shifty forward is centering the 2nd line, and getting time on the powerplay and penalty kill. His 40 points make him 4th on the team and tied fourth in NHL rookie scoring. He is still looking to find consistency in his first-year pro as he has 5 streaks of 3 or more games without a point and 4 streaks of 3 or more games with a point. As Montreal falls further out of a playoff spot down the stretch look for Suzuki to make an outside push for the Calder race as rookie of the year. Pablo Ruiz

 

November 2019 – A strong performance in training camp earned Suzuki a roster spot to start the season and he continues to gain confidence as he adjusts to the NHL. The young forward has played up and down the lineup and seems to have settled into a regular role on the wing of the fourth line. That being said, last game he was promoted to his natural position and centered the third line with Kotkaniemi being held out due to injury. Suzuki still sees regular time on the first unit power play indicating trust earned by head coach Claude Julien. With 13 games played, scoring three goals and five points, it looks as though the rookie is here to stay. Jesse Sherman

 

May 2019 – Nick Suzuki had a phenomenal season; one for the history books. Upon the completion of his campaign, he was awarded the William Hanley Trophy award for the OHL’s most sportsmanlike player for a record breaking third straight year. After being traded at the halfway mark, Suzuki’s point pace increased from a 1.5 to a 1.7 points-per-game average giving him 34 goals and 94 points in 59 games. His 16 goals and 42 points in 24 playoff games set a franchise record. The team captain was pivotal in their winning the OHL championship and was awarded the playoff MVP. Suzuki continues to trend upwards and is a must own in any dynasty league. Jesse Sherman

 

October 2018 –Suzuki was sent down to his OHL team, the Owen Sound Attack. As this move comes as a bit of a surprise, it is not all that negative for the 5-11 has-it-all forward as he should gain more confidence in his last junior hockey season. As a matter of fact, Suzuki did not seem too shocked about the news as he registered a hat trick in his first two games of the season. The London, Ontario native remains one of the best prospects in the NHL. Cal Sinclair

 

September 2018 – With his trade to Montreal, Suzuki has an even better shot at making the NHL on a regular basis for the 2018-2019 campaign. The Canadiens are still looking for their first real number-one center since 1990’s with Vincent Damphousse. The London, Ontario, native could turn out to be the one. Fantasy GMs could be legitimately cautious with his fantasy value as the Habs are not exactly known for the best development system, but it is still possibile that Suzuki reaches his mouth-watering offensive ceiling in Montreal. Despite his multiple talents, the young center is also considered by many as an undersized center, but in a league where speed, creativity and intensity has overshadowed size in the, Suzuki should find himself among his team’s leading scorers eventually. Suzuki is still a pretty safe bet when looking at top rated prospects for all dynasty or keeper leagues.  Carl Sinclair

 

March 2018 –  Suzuki currently sits fourth in OHL scoring prior to the final handful of games that will conclude the OHL season. He leads the Owen Sound Attack in scoring by a remarkable 30 points and is a large reason why they are sitting in a decent spot heading into the playoffs. It seems destined that they’ll face-off against a usually top London Knights team but London sold off a great deal of their assets at the deadline this season. Regardless, Suzuki will be relied on heavily to help extend the Attack’s season beyond the first round. If they do exit early, it wouldn’t be unthinkable to see Suzuki don the Golden Knights jersey for a few games, but a more likely scenario would see him head directly to the Chicago Wolves to help him get acclimated to the professional-style of the AHL. He is very close to being professionally ready, and should be targeted in almost all keeper league formats if he is still available. Mason Black

December 2017 – Nick Suzuki was arguably the biggest surprise to get cut from Canada’s world Junior team. He has posted 44 points in only 28 games – 1.57 points-per-game average – for the Owen Sound Attack (OHL), and is the youngest player in the top-20 of the entire CHL. If Canada struggles at the WJC Suzuki will be looked at as a missing piece that was supposed to provide an offensive boost to a gifted all-around team. It will be interesting to monitor Suzuki’s production in the second half of the season to see if he uses the cut as motivation in what very well could be his last season as an amateur player. Mason Black

March 2017 – Suzuki is an undersized dynamic offensive player who uses his speed and playmaking ability to impact the game. While slightly undersized he is not shy to play physically and go to the net or dig for pucks in the corner. Suzuki thinks the game fast and has the hands and feet to match which makes him a projectable NHL player. Suzuki has a motor that won’t quit on plays and he is a reliable back checker as well making him an effective two-way player. Suzuki made a strong impression as a rookie year scoring 20 goals for the Owen Sound Attack and had a strong showing to start his draft year at the Ivan Hlinka Tournament for Canada with a goal and three points in four games, this season his offensive totals have exploded with 45 goals and 95 points. Despite being a short player, he is strong on the puck, has speed and skill to burn and is a smart player, he will play in a top six role in the NHL when he is ready.  Peter Harling

Attributes
Fantasy Upside 8.3
NHL Certainty 10.0
Country CAN
Position C
Roster Type Junior
Shoot/Glove Right
Date of Birth August 10, 1999
Height 5‘11”
Weight 183 lbs
Drafted 2017 Round 1; Overall: 13

Stats

 Season Team League GP G A TP PIM      Playoffs GP G A TP PIM 
 2013-2014 London Jr. Knights U15 AAAOHF Bantam AAA8 6 28 2|        
  London Jr. Knights U15 AAAALLIANCE U15- - -- -|        
 2014-2015 London Jr. Knights U16 AAAALLIANCE U1631 34 3468 16|Playoffs13 4 59 10 
  London NationalsGOJHL1 0 11 0|        
  Team Ontario CWG6 3 14 0|        
  London Jr. Knights U16 AAAOHL Cup6 2 46 2|        
  Team ALLIANCE OGC-165 3 36 0|        
 2015-2016 Owen Sound AttackOHL63 20 1838 4|Playoffs6 2 02
  Team White U17-Dev3 0 22 2|        
  Canada White U17WHC-176 1 34 2|        
 2016-2017 Canada U18Hlinka Gretzky Cup4 1 23 0|        
  Owen Sound AttackOHL65 45 5196 10|Playoffs17 8 1523 10 
 2017-2018 Owen Sound AttackOHL64 42 58100 18|Playoffs11 3 912
  Chicago WolvesAHL0 0 00 0|Playoffs1 0 00
  OHL All-StarsJr Super Series2 2 13 0|        
 2018-2019 Owen Sound AttackOHL30 22 2345 4|        
  Guelph StormOHL29 12 3749 8|Playoffs24 16 2642 16 
  Guelph StormMemorial Cup4 3 47 0|        
  OHL All-StarsJr Super Series1 0 00 0|        
  Canada U20WJC-205 0 33 4|        
 2019-2020 Montréal CanadiensNHL71 13 2841 6|Playoffs10 4 37
 2020-2021 Montréal CanadiensNHL56 15 2641 26|Playoffs22 7 916
 2021-2022 Montréal CanadiensNHL82 21 4061 30|        
 2022-2023 Montréal CanadiensNHL82 26 4066 33|        
 2023-2024 Montréal CanadiensNHL67 26 3763 26|        

Highlights