Every team has players that the fanbase feels are underrated by the rest of the league. And every fanbase has players that they greatly overrate compared to the rest of the league's estimate. But everyone kind of agrees: Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki is generally underrated.
He's not hugely underrated, especially not after last year. I don't think that anyone is saying that Suzuki is not a #1 centre in the NHL anymore, after his performance last year, perhaps outside of some clickbait homers in Toronto.
Last season, Suzuki finished with 89 points, his first season scoring over a point per game. That's good for 14th overall in the league. If we narrow it down to just centres, Nick Suzuki was placed 6th, behind just Nathan Mackinnon, Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Sidney Crosby.
This is also done while being responsible defensively and incredibly durable. Suzuki hasn't missed a game since coming into the league, and trails only Brent Burns for the active iron man streak at 467 games played straight.
But an iron man streak and one point-per-game season doesn't exactly move the needle for a lot of casual fans. Many may not even know who has the all-time iron man streak off the top of their heads (it's Phil Kessel).
Highlights
Here's the thing, we as Montreal Canadiens fans get to watch Nick Suzuki night in and night out and really get a feel for his game. Most fans will only see highlights of any given game, and many fans won't see the highlights of every game, only the most shared and impressive plays.
That isn't to say that Nick Suzuki hasn't had a lot of highlight reel goals, but they haven't come as often as say Crosby, Mackinnon, or McDavid. Suzuki scores a lot of his goals by using his hockey IQ and wrist shot, rather than dekes and skating speed, which a lot of highlights rely on.
I really like Suzuki's wrist shot, and it's probably the best weapon, outside of his vision and IQ. It's pretty hard, heavy and accurate, and it's a treat to see it go off. It's just not the most impressive looking in a vacuum, and when compared to all the other shots in the league. You have to do something really special to stand out. Like this guy:
The story
One thing that can really bring up your esteem in the eyes of the rest of the league. Something outside of the game can make you stand out, but it can be a double-edged sword. It can either raise your stock or make people hypercritical.
The Canadiens are full of great stories. Cole Caufield stands at just 5'7" and is one of the shortest players in the entire league. And all he does is score goals, and he has become one of the most clutch players in the entire league. His first career goal was an overtime winner, and he already had the Canadiens all time leader in overtime goals.
Another diminutive player is Lane Hutson, taken in the second round in 2022. Another small player at 5'9", he fell out of the first round because many questioned if he could keep up with such a big league as the NHL. He proved that in spades, winning the Calder trophy for rookie of the year last year. And he is just a highlight machine.
Juraj Slafkovsky is interesting, since he had a big jump in the same 2022 draft to be picked 1st overall, notably over de facto first overall pick for most of the year, Shane Wright. It was a big story at the time, along with Wright's stare-down after being picked, but not much has come from it.
Slafkovsky has had a slow start, especially for a first overall pick, and Wright just became a full NHLer last season. But the fact of being a first overall pick does give a fair amount of weight.
And then there's Ivan Demidov. Like Hutson, Demidov is a walking highlight reel. He also broke records in the KHL before jumping to the NHL, made an immediate impact in his first NHL game, and has a built-in rivalry. The year before, the Canadiens passed on Russian prospect Matvei Michkov, only to get his fellow countryman Demidov the next draft.
The NHL has a ton of stories. Chara was a great defender, but everyone's going to remember him because of how tall he is.
Suzuki began his career being drafted by the Vegas Golden Knights 13th overall in 2017. 13th is the sweet spot where it's hard to call him a steal in that range, even if he continues to be a great player, but not high enough to be one of the peak prospects of the year.
In 2018, Suzuki was traded to the Canadiens along with Tomas Tatar and another draft pick for then Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty. But Pacioretty was not seen as one of the better players in the league at that point. One of the more consistent 30-goal scorers in the league, and it was a big trade at the time, but there wasn't a big, long-term discount of Suzuki vs. Pacioretty for the rest of the league.
And then Nick Suzuki became the youngest captain in Montreal Canadiens history, which is definitely cool, but isn't huge outside of the Habs fanbase. If he were the youngest captain in NHL history, that might be different, but inherently, team records are less notable than NHL ones.
Signature move
If you think about all the biggest names in the NHL past and present, they all have a signature, something wholly unique to their game.
The faceoff dot has been the office for many players over the years, but really, that one specific spot belongs to Alex Ovechkin. We've talked about blueline stalwarts Zdeno Chara and his impressive height, and Shea Weber and the heaviest slapshot. Patrik Laine has an absolute laser of a shot, possibly the best currently in the league.
The best player in the world currently, Connor McDavid, has his impressive footspeed, and Sidney Crosby has the greatest backhand shot I've ever seen. Pavel Datsyuk had a term named after him, the Datsyukian deke, and his skills as a pickpocket. Dominik Hasek is one of the most unique goalies of all time, style-wise, making the most awkward-looking saves possible. Guy Lafleur, Le Demon Blonde, had his beautiful flowing hair.
Nick Suzuki doesn't exactly have a signature move, something that alone lets him stand out from the pack. His IQ and vision are close, but they are hard to show in a highlight, especially in the defensive zone. It's something that you need to actively see and doesn't really work in a highlight package.
He kind of reminds me of the former most underrated forward, Aleksander Barkov. Both excel in all facets of the game, but lack the eye-catching, consistent highlights that get fans from other fanbases talking.
And defensive play is widely undervalued in the league. Even defensive awards like the Selke Trophy and Norris Trophy are awarded to the best defender and best defensive forward who still score goals and put up a ton of points. So Suzuki's defensive prowess isn't going to push the needle.
Nick Suzuki is going to be in underrated conversations for a long time to come, especially if media pundits keep pushing the idea that he isn't a top centre. But I guess that's alright. We will all know the truth at least.