Latest news with #NickSuzuki
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former Hurricanes Forward Fined For Dangerous Hit
Three Canadiens Make The Hockey News Top 100 NHL Players List Not so long ago, Carey Price was the first Montreal Canadiens player to be mentioned in any list of best NHL players. Now that he has been forced to stop playing, the Habs are led by someone else in The Hockey News' top 100 NHL players list. Only three Canadiens made the list: Nick Suzuki, sniper Cole Caufield, and rookie defenseman Lane Hutson. 1:13 Now Playing Paused Ad Playing
Time of India
09-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Bo Horvat emerges as top trade target for Montreal Canadiens: Report
Bo Horvat emerges as top trade target for Montreal Canadiens: Report (Image Source: Getty Images) The Montreal Canadiens are returning from a solid season. They qualified for the playoffs with one of the youngest teams in the NHL and now look to move another step forward. One area that they look to improve on is depth at center beyond captain Nick Suzuki. TVA insider Vincent Duquette reports that the Canadiens may trade for veteran center Bo Horvat of the New York Islanders. Operation Sindoor PM Modi meets NSA, chiefs of armed forces amid spike in tensions with Pak India's air defence systems shoot down Pak drones in J&K, Punjab & Rajasthan Several airports in India to be closed till May 15 - check list "Horvat would be the ideal center to lead the second line," Duquette said. "He's capable of scoring 30 goals per season and is responsible in all three zones. We need to determine to what extent we want to add experience versus gain experience." Canadiens eye Bo Horvat to boost offense behind Nick Suzuki Bo Horvat tallied 28 goals and 29 assists this year with the Islanders. He still has six years remaining on an eight-year, $68 million contract. The Canadiens view his long-term commitment as a good thing and also a gamble. On the plus side, he can be an anchor for the team for a long time to come. The negative is he just turned 30, and Montreal's rebuilding effort has concentrated on youth. Nevertheless, the Canadiens possess the resources to make a trade. General manager Kent Hughes has stated that he is looking to enhance the team's offense and leadership this offseason. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like CFD's: Investing $200 in Emaar Malls can give you a second income TradeLG Undo "There's no doubt we want to add more talent to our team," Hughes said. "We need to determine to what extent we want to add experience versus gain experience." Bo Horvat's experience and playoff pedigree may be just what the team requires to advance the younger stars such as Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Lane Hutson to the next level. Trading for Bo Horvat could be the next big move Jeff Gorton, the Canadiens' Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations, said the team is not finished building. 'There's not one area where we're saying, 'we're done there,'' Gorton said. 'We'll continue to look at everything to improve.' Jeff Gorton also spoke to the need for players who can handle playoff play. That's precisely the type of value Horvat might provide a team looking to do better than just make the playoffs. When the offseason gets underway, the Canadiens will consider all options trades, free agents, and perhaps even blockbuster moves such as acquiring Bo Horvat to continue to move forward. Also Read: NHL Players Accused Of Group Assault: Defense Says Woman Made It Up To Avoid 'Cheating' On Boyfriend
Edmonton Journal
09-05-2025
- Sport
- Edmonton Journal
Hickey: Centres, penalty killers focal points of Canadiens' off-season
Article content The more valuable of the two UFAs is Dvorak and he's the least likely to return. As the players cleaned out their lockers, Dvorak said he enjoyed his time in Montreal, but he also framed his experiences in the past tense. He's valuable because, in addition to killing penalties, he was the team's top centre in faceoffs and, as a lefty, he offers a balance to righties Nick Suzuki and Jake Evans. He also led all Montreal forwards with 74 blocked shots. But Dvorak had a cap hit of US$4.45 million and retaining him would require his accepting a deep hometown discount. Armia, who leaves the impression that someone with his size and strength should produce like the first-round (No. 16 overall) draft choice he was in 2011, has begun negotiations with the Canadiens and the question is how much of a cut he's willing to take from his US$3.4-million cap hit.
New York Times
03-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Canadiens have work left to do, but this season has shown they have a strong core
BROSSARD, Que. — The Montreal Canadiens' season was at a crossroads when the team headed for the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, at which point the team's young captain decided to do something. Nick Suzuki knew that Canadiens management was strongly considering selling off veterans on expiring contracts at the trade deadline, names that included Jake Evans, Joel Armia, Christian Dvorak and David Savard, and he wanted to convince general manager Kent Hughes to give the team one last chance. Advertisement He was told to go win games. After the Canadiens won their fifth game in a row coming out of that break, Suzuki decided to go public with that meeting. That was a captain move, putting even more pressure on management not to do a thing at the trade deadline. Having the meeting is one thing. Making it public is quite another. This felt a little bit like that. As he spoke to reporters Friday as the Canadiens cleaned out their lockers following an unexpected playoff berth — one helped enormously by the veterans the Canadiens decided to keep at the trade deadline — Suzuki was asked about the possibility of this team becoming even younger and with veterans leaving the team, how that balance between youth and experience can be maintained over the offseason. Suzuki was nodding throughout the question. Again, just as he did in March, his response seemed to send a message to Hughes and executive vice-president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton, with whom he was slated to meet later Friday afternoon. 'I think that's the biggest question right now,' Suzuki said. 'As one of the leaders on the team, we don't want to see this go backwards in any way. Obviously we have a lot of top picks, a lot of talent, a lot of young guys that are trying to earn roster spots on this team. We were already the youngest team to make the playoffs, and technically we might get younger next year. We'll see. 'I think whatever's in the cards for Gorts and Kent this summer, I think we made it a lot harder on them to try to go out and not get younger next year.' That didn't come out of Suzuki quite the way he wanted, but the message was clear. The Canadiens must build on this season, and getting younger next season seems all but certain to happen with Savard retiring, Dvorak and Armia on expiring contracts, Ivan Demidov preparing to start his rookie season and David Reinbacher likely to do the same on the blue line. And so, what Suzuki was saying has a lot of merit, that experience also needs to be added to mitigate the continued flow of youth that is coming as well. Advertisement Because Suzuki is realistic about where the Canadiens are right now. They are still in a rebuild as far as he's concerned, unlike some of his teammates. For instance: 'I think we've shown that we're kind of a little bit over that phase right now.' — Josh Anderson. 'I feel like (the playoffs) is a big step, and I don't feel like we should look at it as a rebuild anymore, in my opinion.' — Juraj Slafkovský. Suzuki, however, had a bigger picture view of it, as he has a tendency to do. 'I don't think so,' Suzuki said when asked if the rebuild is over. 'We've got a ton of picks, a ton of young guys coming up, who knows how that's going to turn out and what kind of players they're going to become. It's a process. Every year's going to be different. It's on Kent and Gorts and those guys to try to put the best team out there that they can and us players to go out and do our job.' This is why a rebuild is difficult, and this is the most difficult part. The Canadiens making the playoffs is, as Slafkovský correctly said, a huge step. But it will be over when the Canadiens reach what Hughes has repeatedly stated is the ultimate goal, which is to build a team that can have sustained success, with success being defined not by playoff appearances but rather by Stanley Cup contention. The Canadiens clearly are not there yet, and thus, the rebuild continues. But how do the Canadiens allow for players such as Lane Hutson to have the special rookie season he had this year, for Demidov to perhaps have a similar Calder-worthy season next year, or for Reinbacher or Owen Beck or Michael Hage or any of a deep well of young prospects the organization has gathered through this rebuild to join the team while keeping it competitive and preventing it from becoming too young? Toeing that line not only requires veterans, not only requires replacing veterans walking out the door, but it also requires finding the right veterans. And it requires finding the right number of them. You can't flood the zone with veterans on veteran contracts because then you don't leave room for your youth. But you can't just leave your youth in the middle of an ocean with no life raft, either. Advertisement 'You look at the average age, it's tough, we're going to lose some guys, but everyone in this room's getting older,' defenceman Kaiden Guhle said. 'I don't know, maybe the average age goes down, but in terms of me, for example, I'm getting older. Cole, Suzy, guys that have been in the league for a long time now, and are able to step up and take over his veteran kind of presence. I think it's just on the younger guys now, I guess, to step up in that sense.' As Guhle was saying that, as he said, 'his veteran kind of presence,' Savard was walking by to address reporters for the last time. He laughed at the timing of it. But then, in the next breath, when asked if he felt like a veteran himself, Guhle laughed again. 'I wouldn't say I'm a veteran. Definitely not a veteran,' he said. 'But you get more experience in the league. Yeah, definitely not a vet, but you get more experience for sure.' See? Tricky. But what makes this far less tricky is what management learned over the course of the season and particularly in the playoffs. They have a core, it is pretty clearly defined, and it is extremely promising. It is led by Suzuki and includes Hutson, Slafkovský, Guhle, Cole Caufield and — it appears safe to say already — Demidov. 'I think he's going to be a star,' Hutson said of Demidov. 'The way he handles the puck in important situations, how calm and confident he is, you can't teach it. I think that has the makings of a star player. That's the hope. It'll be fun to see, for sure … You can't teach that competitive nature. It's just within you. To see that he has it, that he's not going to take any of that from anyone, it's awesome to see.' Some others may join that core, and that is what next season and beyond will demonstrate. But for now, what the core learned this season is what is most important. Suzuki learned just how dominant he can be, putting up 37 points in 26 games coming out of the 4 Nations break and giving the Washington Capitals all they could handle in the first round. Caufield learned he can be a solid two-way player in the NHL while putting up a career-high 37 goals — tied for 13th in the NHL with Nikita Kucherov and Artemi Panarin. Hutson learned he can perform the way he has his entire life in the most difficult league in the world. Guhle learned how to bring the physical element that defined him in junior to the NHL level. Demidov learned in a very short time that he can adapt to not only NHL hockey, but playoff hockey, and still demonstrate his outstanding skill and smarts and competitiveness. Advertisement And then there is Slafkovský. He might have learned the most. And his lesson might be the most significant. Slafkovský is not going to play for Slovakia at the world championships. He had a conversation with Friday with Miroslav Šatan, the president of the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation, to inform him of the news and said the conversation was cordial. It was a decision he and Canadiens management came to together. And at the heart of it was the beginning of next season. Slafkovský was happy with how his season ended, but not how it began. He said he would prefer to start his season in October and not in February. And that would mean applying what he learned in February, that while he has a lot of skill, what differentiates him at the NHL level is the combination of that skill and his size, something he now feels he knows how to use at this level. 'Now I know how the playoff games are played. It's pretty clear what I need to do to be successful and what I need to bring for us to be a successful team. Play physical, win my battle for pucks, go to the net. Simple,' Slafkovský said. 'Pretty much start playing physical from Game 1 of the year. It doesn't matter if it's not playoffs. You're playing for a playoff spot. Obviously I'm not going to be able to do it for 82 games, but if I can get to 65, 70 games, then I think I'm going to be in a pretty good spot and we as a team are going to be in a pretty good spot.' Hutson had a similar experience in the playoffs. 'I felt like a completely different player from that first (game) to the fifth one,' he said. 'Having that confidence and kind of knowing what I can and can't do, just like the regular season early on, it was a cool adjustment to have; kind of knowing I can have an impact and help. But I think I have a lot left to learn in that department.' Advertisement These are the types of lessons this core has come away from this season with. The lessons they earned by reaching the playoffs and exposing themselves to that hockey and that environment. It has given them a taste, and that taste is invaluable. Management will need to ensure that core is properly surrounded, and that is an important job that lies ahead of them this summer. But the fact that they have a core like this to build around means management's most important job appears done. (Top photo of Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)
Montreal Gazette
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Montreal Gazette
‘Great learning year,' Nick Suzuki says of Canadiens' drive to playoffs
Montreal Canadiens By If was a day of reflection for Canadiens players on Friday, left to think about the surprising season that was and what could potentially lie ahead in the future. During a season of ebbs and flows, captain Nick Suzuki believes the turning point might have come in early March, before the NHL's trade deadline, when he pleaded with management not to tinker with what he believed was a winning formula. 'I feel like there was a lot of different turning points throughout the season,' Suzuki said as the players had their season-ending availability at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard. 'I really wanted to keep this group together, and so did every single guy in here. The trade deadline would have been a lot different if we were to have made some moves. I was happy to keep everyone together. 'I think we really embraced the challenge of trying to fight for that last playoff spot, and we were able to accomplish that.' The fact that general manager Kent Hughes and executive vice-president (hockey operations) Jeff Gorton listened to Suzuki speaks volumes about his impact on and off the ice, along with the respect he has garnered since being named captain of the historic franchise in 2022, at the age of 23. The Canadiens went on a five-game winning streak following the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, which undoubtedly also influenced management's decision not to tinker with the roster. That was followed by a late-season six-game winning run that helped propel Montreal to the Eastern Conference's final wild-card playoff spot. While the Canadiens fell to top-seeded Washington in five games, that post-season experience should serve the players well as they continue to gain experience. The Canadiens might have extended the series to a sixth game Friday night at the Bell Centre with a healthy Samuel Montembeault, who was injured in the second period of Game 3. Montembeault revealed on Friday he tore two of three muscles in his groin, but won't require surgery. Winger Patrik Laine, whose playoff performance was underwhelming, missed the last three games with a broken finger. And while Josh Anderson was obviously banged up, missing most late-season practices, he would only say he was dealing with numerous upper- and lower-body ailments. The NHL on Friday also announced Martin St. Louis is one of three finalists for coach of the year, along with Washington's Spencer Carbery and Winnipeg's Scott Arniel. 'It's flattering for sure,' St. Louis said. 'But I'll say that during my last 10 years as a player in the NHL, I was coaching a lot. I had a lot of experience. You can ask my teammates who played with me.' Suzuki had a team-leading 89 points this season, his 30 goals second only to Cole Caufield's 37. And as usual, Suzuki played all 82 regular-season games. Suzuki hasn't missed a game during his six-year career, appearing in 455 consecutive contests. He believes he has evolved as the captain and grown into all the responsibilities that come with the title. 'It's not just me going out there and playing. I've got to take care of everyone on the team,' he explained. 'Communicate with staff, coaches. There's a lot that goes into it. I feel more comfortable each and every year in that role, gaining more experience in different situations. 'For me, it was a great learning year,' he added. 'We went through a lot as a team. I went through a lot individually — the pressure of being in a playoff spot, not being in a playoff spot. Every game coming down the stretch felt like a playoff game. It was a great experience for moving on to next year.' Suzuki took his 4 Nations snub personally, posting 12 goals and 31 points in 20 games down the stretch. He was involved in 45.1 per cent of Montreal's goals after the 4 Nations break. Along with the motivation of being overlooked, Suzuki welcomed the opportunity to rest and heal his body. 'I think I've shown what I can do as a player,' Suzuki said. 'I took my game to a different level coming down the stretch, into the playoffs.' Making the playoffs is only the first step. The pressure and expectations will increase for the Canadiens to return to the post-season and prove they can become a serious Stanley Cup contender. 'Management can see we've got a good group in here. I think there's a lot of opportunity,' he said. 'The process we've been on, continuing on that path. We're getting older, more experienced. We were the youngest team to make the playoffs. That says something about what we have in here and how we play.' Suzuki said he has been invited to represent Canada in the coming world championship, but must first be cleared by the organization. Defenceman Mike Matheson, meanwhile, said he'll be playing.
