Even with how the season ended for the Montreal Canadiens, it was a memorable one for the Canadiens' captain Nick Suzuki. He would win his first Selke Trophy and break 100 points for the first time in his career. He is only the fifth player in franchise history and the first since the 1985-86 season to break that mark.
In addition to that, he finished fifth in the voting for the Hart Trophy, which went to Tampa Bay Lightings' Nikita Kucherov. The trophy is viewed as the award to the "player adjudged to be the most valuable to their team", and there is an argument to be made that Suzuki fits that definition.
That is the argument Sammi Silber recently made after the voting ballots for all the writers were shared. However, Sibler was the only writer to give a first-place vote to Suzuki and recently explained why the Canadiens' captain received that vote.
Because I want to be transparent and stand by my work that I’ve done in this industry for almost a decade now, I gave Nick Suzuki a first-place vote for Hart.
— Sammi Silber 🏒 (@sammisilber) June 13, 2026
The Hart’s criteria is the “most valuable player to his team.” Yes Habs have rising talent, but Suzuki had a 100+ point…
Nick Suzuki could easily be considered the most valuable player to any team in the NHL
If the award should go to the player most valuable to their team, and not necessarily the best player in the NHL, then Suzuki has a strong case. He finished first on the team in points, assists, and +/- while finishing third in goals. The Canadiens finished with 279 goals as a team, and Suzuki was involved in 36% of those either with a goal or an assist.
In addition to the offensive production, he was already awarded the Selke Trophy, which goes to the forward who shows the best defensive skill.
However, the best argument to make, and Silber doesn't explicitly state it, but it can clearly be inferred, is that the Canadiens didn't have much depth at the center position. It was really Nick Suzuki for the top line, and then a significant drop to who the next best center might be.
While Suzuki may not have scored as many goals as Nathan MacKinnon or have as many assists as Connor McDavid, or the overall point total as Nikita Kucherov, it is hard to argue that any of those players were more valuable to their team than Suzuki. Based on that logic, Sammi Silber was right to give Nick Suzuki a first-place vote, and frankly, there should have been other writers who did as such.
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