Suzuki something special

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This article was published 07/07/2021 (1745 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TAMPA — You watch Nick Suzuki play on this big stage, night in and night out, and can’t help but be impressed. The kid, just 21 and in only his second NHL season, is something special.

He’s leading the Montreal Canadiens in playoff scoring. And he just set a record for the youngest player in Habs history to record points in three consecutive Stanley Cup Final games. When you consider the franchise’s storied history, with 24 championships and a litany of Hall of Fame alumni, that is quite the feat.

No doubt the general managers of every other team must sit back and think “It sure would be nice to have him on our roster.” But it must hit especially close to home for Kevin Cheveldayoff and the Winnipeg Jets.

A quick history lesson: We take you back to the summer of 2017, with the expansion Vegas Golden Knights poised to legally steal a player from every other club. Some, like the Jets, had ones they clearly didn’t want to lose, but couldn’t guarantee immunity. And so risky side deals were made.

For Winnipeg, it was a matter of keeping Toby Enstrom from going to Sin City. The veteran defenceman agreed to waive his no-trade clause so Dustin Byfuglien, Jacob Trouba and Tyler Myers could be the three blue-liners they protected.

In exchange, Winnipeg swapped first-round draft picks with Vegas, sending the 13th-overall down south in exchange for the 24th-overall. Cheveldayoff also threw in a third-rounder, and the Golden Knights basically wasted their selection, on purpose, on pending UFA Chris Thorburn, who they had no intention of actually signing.

But what might have seemed like a good idea at the time doesn’t look so hot now, does it?

Enstrom played only one more year, and was even a healthy scratch for the final game of the Western Conference Final against…Vegas! He returned home to Sweden to finish out his career. Trouba was ultimately traded (for Neal Pionk), Myers was allowed to walk in free agency and Byfuglien, of course, retired.

Vegas used Winnipeg’s original 13th pick to select Suzuki, a scoring sensation with Owen Sound of the Ontario Hockey League. They ultimately traded Suzuki to Montreal the following summer for Max Pacioretty in a deal I’d suggest both clubs are pleased with. Pacioretty is a star on a Golden Knights team being built to win now, while Suzuki is a major part of a Montreal team in the process of handing the keys over to the kids.

Suzuki now has 105 points in 158 combined regular-season and playoff games, and is seemingly getting better with every passing game. He’s got superstar written all over him. Did we mention he plays centre, a position the Jets have been trying to fill for a few seasons now, with trades for Paul Stastny, then Kevin Hayes, then Cody Eakin, then Stastny again before finally snagging a promising young prospect in Cole Perfetti and trading Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic for Pierre-Luc Dubois.

Winnipeg, meanwhile, used that reduced 24th pick to select winger Kristian Vesalainen, who is still trying to find his way in the NHL with no goals and two assists in 21 combined regular-season and playoff games. Of course, there’s no telling whether the Jets would have chosen Suzuki had they not done the deal with Vegas, but the kid certainly checks off all the boxes of what they were looking for at the time. So you can’t help but wonder what could have been.

And with another expansion draft on deck here in a couple weeks, and rumblings of more side deals to come from NHL clubs, you’d have to think an outcome such as this would be a case study in exercising extreme caution. There are numerous teams who actually dug themselves bigger holes, proving sometimes the cure really can be worse than the disease.

One thing is clear: Suzuki isn’t going anywhere now. The Habs are naturally thrilled to have him in the fold, and the trio of Suzuki, rookie sensation Cole Caufield and power forward Josh Anderson led Montreal to their Game 4 victory on Monday night that shifted the Stanley Cup Final to Florida.

Anderson scored twice, including the overtime winner, while Caufield (two assists) and Suzuki (one assist) played big roles. They’ll need to do it again tonight if the Canadiens are to win another elimination game and send the series back to Montreal.

“Off the top of my head right now I’ve played with quite a few different type of competitors. One guy I guess that jumps right out at me is a Ray Whitney, a smaller right shot but uber competitive and intelligent with the puck and that’s kind of what Nick is,” veteran Montreal forward Eric Staal said of the 5-11, 208-pound Suzuki.

“He’s really, really competitive, very intelligent with the puck, puts himself in good positions to be able to do the right things defensively but also create offence. So he’s a huge part of our team and developing into a leader for this group and an important part of what we got going here.”

Assistant coach Luke Richardson referred to Suzuki as a “quiet leader” who is still finding his way — a scary thought given what he is already at this stage of his young career. Of the dozen players selected in the draft before him, only Elias Pettersson (5th) and Nico Hischier (1st) have more points.

“You’ve seen it over the last two years just grow every game. I think it’s the confidence level that’s showing, even in his smile. He’s got that kind of sly smile on the ice. I’m sure it bothers the other team. But it brings confidence to himself and I think his teammates, just showing them he’s gaining more confidence in his play and his demeanour,” said Richardson.

He may be smiling, but all of those GMs who missed out on a chance to draft him likely aren’t.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg