Player Discussion Nick Suzuki Part 11

[Bouboumaster]

A beast

 

[ForeverHabs97]

Lebrun on TSN said management didn't come in with these expectations but now view Suzuki as a bonafide #1 centerman and will go forward with him slotted in that position.

I think he's the real deal too, we're too quick to forget how he carried us to the Finals last year and was an absolute beast. I really think we finally have in our hands a real centerman after decades.

 

[Andrei79]

I sure hope so. But it was clearly a gamble, and a bad one for a team that has over 20% of its cap to Weber and Price for the next four years... and another 20% to Armia, Gallagher, and Petry.

Suzuki just isn't productive enough to be worth 7.8m a year. Maybe he will be soon, but until then...

Let's agree that MSL has been a godsend for him.

A 60 point all situation young center who can carry a team to the finals is definitely worth 7.8M. That's if he never improves upon his 60 point pace of the last two seasons.

 

[comment ca va]

1a/1b would be mint

 

[KevSkillz4]

1a/1b would be mint

Imagine drafting Shane Wright. Suzuki and Wright have same qualities, both have great two-way abilities, great shot (both looks good on PP with their shot), both have great hands too.

Wright, Suzuki, Caufield, Guhle, Romanov and more... the future will be amazing for long time.

Cross fingers!!

(If not, Cooley, Slafkovsky, Nemec, Jiricek, Savoie, Kemell, Nazar, not bad at all... pretty good too), just the fit with Shane Wright looks perfect with Nick Suzuki.

 

[26Mats]

Lebrun on TSN said management didn't come in with these expectations but now view Suzuki as a bonafide #1 centerman and will go forward with him slotted in that position.

I think he's the real deal too, we're too quick to forget how he carried us to the Finals last year and was an absolute beast. I really think we finally have in our hands a real centerman after decades.

*some were quick to forget.

 

[26Mats]

Imagine drafting Shane Wright. Suzuki and Wright have same qualities, both have great two-way abilities, great shot (both looks good on PP with their shot), both have great hands too.

Wright, Suzuki, Caufield, Guhle, Romanov and more... the future will be amazing for long time.

Cross fingers!!

(If not, Cooley, Slafkovsky, Nemec, Jiricek, Savoie, Kemell, Nazar, not bad at all... pretty good too), just the fit with Shane Wright looks perfect with Nick Suzuki.

Let's use our vets with trade value to add more young building blocks to the ones you listed, or draft picks to try to get more.

 

[SOLR]

I sure hope so. But it was clearly a gamble, and a bad one for a team that has over 20% of its cap to Weber and Price for the next four years... and another 20% to Armia, Gallagher, and Petry.

Suzuki just isn't productive enough to be worth 7.8m a year. Maybe he will be soon, but until then...

Let's agree that MSL has been a godsend for him.

Not really a choice...that's where the market is at.

 

[ReHabs]

Not really a choice...that's where the market is at.

No other GM would give 8 years and 7.85m to a player with a career high 41 points

 

[SpeedyPotato]

Imagine drafting Shane Wright. Suzuki and Wright have same qualities, both have great two-way abilities, great shot (both looks good on PP with their shot), both have great hands too.

Wright, Suzuki, Caufield, Guhle, Romanov and more... the future will be amazing for long time.

Cross fingers!!

(If not, Cooley, Slafkovsky, Nemec, Jiricek, Savoie, Kemell, Nazar, not bad at all... pretty good too), just the fit with Shane Wright looks perfect with Nick Suzuki.

I just wanna see Slafkovsky on his left side and CC on his right, that could just be an elite first line with a perfect blend of everything.

 

[SOLR]

No other GM would give 8 years and 7.85m to a player with a career high 41 points

That's not true one bit, it's becoming the norm for high draftees. See: Jack Hughes.

 

[KevSkillz4]

I just wanna see Slafkovsky on his left side and CC on his right, that could just be an elite first line with a perfect blend of everything.

100% agree... Slafkovsky will be a massive pick if we draft him too. (Not at #1, but he can be a really good pick at #2, him or Cooley).

Right now my wishlist is #1 - Wright, #2 - Cooley/Slafkovsky, #3 - Cooley/Slafkovsky. (In 4-7 range, it's Nemec, Jiricek, Kemell, Savoie or Nazar).

 

[ReHabs]

That's not true one bit, it's becoming the norm for high draftees. See: Jack Hughes.

Becoming the norm. Not the norm.

The only comp is Hirscher and that’s a bad contract too.

It’s fine, I love the boy Suzuki but let’s be honest okay

 

[SOLR]

Becoming the norm. Not the norm.

The only comp is Hirscher and that’s a bad contract too.

It’s fine, I love the boy Suzuki but let’s be honest okay

It has become the norm, not sure why you are arguing.

And Hischier ain't a bad contract, on pace for a 60 points season, he's just getting started (he'll become a 70-75pts guy - a pretty elite 2nd center when you have Jack Hughes).

Matthews, Nylander, Marner etc. etc. teams don't have the choice anymore or the guy leaves after 7 years. So it's much smarter to bet a bit on young guys and keep them for 11 years (their whole prime).

Let's be honest that it's a bit deluded to believe that ship hasn't sailed.

 

[Ozmodiar]

Anyone who’s been watching Suzuki over the last 2 seasons will know how much the team relies on him. He’s an every situation center who can play against the other team’s best. This is more obvious this season with Danault gone.

Anyone who’s been watching wouldn’t question the contract.

 

[webersshot]

Clipping along at and 87 point pace since MSL. 1 month AD (After Dom) much higher than his BC (before Cole) numbers

 

[Vachon23]

 

[ChikN]

Wow that's impressive.

 

[Captain Mountain]

Lebrun on TSN said management didn't come in with these expectations but now view Suzuki as a bonafide #1 centerman and will go forward with him slotted in that position.

I think he's the real deal too, we're too quick to forget how he carried us to the Finals last year and was an absolute beast. I really think we finally have in our hands a real centerman after decades.

I think we forgot because he looked bad offensively under Ducharme. The sky's the limit if he can keep up his excellent production with high end defensive play.

 

[JoelWarlord]

Blows me away that we're 17 years into a hard cap system in the NHL and people are still evaluating 8 year deals to young core players based on whether or not they exceed the AAV ranking at their position in year 1 of 8 (and in this case in year -1 of 8). Broken record from me but stop getting emotionally attached to "7.8" as if it's this monster mega number. It's the same cap percentage as if Plekanec got 5.75M instead of 5M in 2011, it is not some big giant frivolous spend when you're locking in a player's entire prime.

It's going to be the 22nd highest salary among Cs next year, into the high 20s the year after, and the low 30s and dropping from then on. The entire point is that we don't give a shit about the cap until 3 seasons from now so we've paid a little more than a bridge deal's value up front to get a lower price on the back half. I really just can't fathom having an issue with paying Suzuki as the 22nd highest paid C next year, 28th the year after, 34th the year after, and dropping from then on. That sounds pretty much exactly where you'd want his long term number to be.

 

[Cournoyer12]

Really hope they keep Nick and Cole together!

 

[le_sean]

Blows me away that we're 17 years into a hard cap system in the NHL and people are still evaluating 8 year deals to young core players based on whether or not they exceed the AAV ranking at their position in year 1 of 8 (and in this case in year -1 of 8). Broken record from me but stop getting emotionally attached to "7.8" as if it's this monster mega number. It's the same cap percentage as if Plekanec got 5.75M instead of 5M in 2011, it is not some big giant frivolous spend when you're locking in a player's entire prime.

It's going to be the 22nd highest salary among Cs next year, into the high 20s the year after, and the low 30s and dropping from then on. The entire point is that we don't give a shit about the cap until 3 seasons from now so we've paid a little more than a bridge deal's value up front to get a lower price on the back half. I really just can't fathom having an issue with paying Suzuki as the 22nd highest paid C next year, 28th the year after, 34th the year after, and dropping from then on. That sounds pretty much exactly where you'd want his long term number to be.

The kid was worth $7.8m for his playoff performances alone. Him breaking out offensively in this 2nd half is just reaffirming how great he already is.

 

[JoelWarlord]

The kid was worth $7.8m for his playoff performances alone. Him breaking out offensively in this 2nd half is just reaffirming how great he already is.

Yep. Also just incredibly silly that people are talking about "7.8M for a guy with a high of 41 points" as if Nick Suzuki created covid and caused the 20-21 season to be 56 games or something. Last year was already a 60 pace, and he's back up to a 60pt pace again this season even with how bad the Ducharme era was, and since the coaching change he's put up 18P in 16 games.

I don't know that people appreciate how high is floor is with how good he is defensively either, he's probably not ever going to quite reach that Danault/Bergeron Selke tier of defence but he's going to be among the very best defensive Cs in the league outside that top tier. His defence alone just makes him such a valuable player to have even if he ends up "only" being consistently around 60pts/yr. He might not be a Bergeron type player but that's fine, we're paying him like Krecji or Backstrom and that's the kind of player he's projecting as.

 

[Captain97]

Yep. Also just incredibly silly that people are talking about "7.8M for a guy with a high of 41 points" as if Nick Suzuki created covid and caused the 20-21 season to be 56 games or something. Last year was already a 60 pace, and he's back up to a 60pt pace again this season even with how bad the Ducharme era was, and since the coaching change he's put up 18P in 16 games.

I don't know that people appreciate how high is floor is with how good he is defensively either, he's probably not ever going to quite reach that Danault/Bergeron Selke tier of defence but he's going to be among the very best defensive Cs in the league outside that top tier. His defence alone just makes him such a valuable player to have even if he ends up "only" being consistently around 60pts/yr. He might not be a Bergeron type player but that's fine, we're paying him like Krecji or Backstrom and that's the kind of player he's projecting as.

I'm betting 70-75 points next year for thicc Nick and truly believe he can be a P/G guy in his prime.

 

[Vinceee]

Wow that's impressive.

Could he be a Selke candidate as early as this year?