Whether they like it or not, Nick Suzuki and Auston Matthews will be forever linked as the No. 1 centers on the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs. Their rivalry hasn't reached maximum intensity considering the teams haven't been competitive at the same times during their careers. However, that started to change this season and will come even more intense starting next season.
Despite the Canadiens' recent rebuild, Suzuki has still been in six elimination games in his career, which is only three less than Matthews. Three of those elimination games came in the 2021 playoffs when Suzuki won three consecutive elimination games to upset Matthews and the Leafs. It's likely we'll get some more elimination games with these players squaring off in the coming years.
Suzuki might not have as much elimination game experience, but Patrick Tallon shared some interesting stats via X. Given the players' respective cap hits, there is one clear player who is more valuable to their team. It might not be a surprise, but the less-valuable center doesn't wear a Canadiens sweater.
Nick Suzuki:
Record: 5–1
Points: 8 (4G, 4A)
PPG: 1.33
Cap Hit: $7.875M
Auston Matthews:
Record: 3–6
Points: 6 (2G, 4A)
PPG: 0.67
Cap Hit: $13.25M
Matthews dominates Suzuki in regular season goals, even though Suzuki closed that gap this season by having his first year with over a point per game. Matthews has also been improving his defensive game, which puts him closer to Suzuki in that category. Let's be honest, neither Canadian team is upset with their captain. However, it's clear which player the organizations can trust more when the games get tough.
That isn't to say that Suzuki is far and away the better player. They are each extremely valuable to the success of their teams, and you can't put a price on Matthews' ability to lead the Maple Leafs to the playoffs every spring. Even though it was a rebuild, the Canadiens fans have yet to see Suzuki do that with regularity. That will be the next box that he has to check in his quest to be the better of the two captains.
It's biased to ask a bunch of Canadiens fans who they'd rather have, but if you put these two stat lines against each other without a name labeled, you're taking Suzuki's every time. Montreal might be just at the beginning of their contending window and could crash and burn like Toronto every season. However, Canadiens fans can take solace knowing their captain will show up when the lights get bright.