Nick Suzuki

Nicholas Suzuki (born August 10, 1999) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre currently playing for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 13th overall by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career[edit]

Suzuki was drafted in the 1st round, 13th overall, in the 2015 OHL Priority Selection by the Owen Sound Attack.^[1] In his 2016–17 OHL season he placed second in goals scored (45) and fifth in points (96), placed on the OHL All-Star second team and won the William Hanley Trophy for Most sportmanslike player.^[2] On June 23, 2017 Suzuki was drafted in the 1st round, 13th overall, in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft by the Vegas Golden Knights. On July 16, 2017, Suzuki agreed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Vegas Golden Knights.^[3] Suzuki was invited to the Knights training camp before the 2017–18 season; however, he was cut and reassigned to the OHL before the final roster was announced.^[4] At the conclusion of the 2017–18 season, Suzuki was nominated for the Red Tilson Trophy and the William Hanley Trophy.^[5] After the Owen Sound Attack were eliminated from the 2018 OHL playoffs, Suzuki was reassigned to the Knights’ AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves.^[6]

On September 10, 2018, prior to the 2018–19 season, Suzuki was traded to the Montreal Canadiens, along with Tomáš Tatar and a 2019 second round draft pick, in exchange for their captain Max Pacioretty.^[7] After playing in 30 games for the Attack, Suzuki was traded to the Guelph Storm, along with Zachary Roberts and then-Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Sean Durzi, in exchange for Zachary Poirier, Barret Kirwin, Mark Woolley and four draft picks on January 9, 2019.^[8] Suzuki would go on to help the Storm win the J. Ross Robertson Cup for their sixth championship in franchise history that season.

Suzuki made his NHL debut on October 3, 2019 against the Carolina Hurricanes.^[9] He scored his first NHL point with a power-play assist in a 5–4 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres on October 9, 2019.^[10] Suzuki scored his first career NHL goal on October 17, 2019. Teammate Victor Mete scored his first NHL goal in the same game, making the pair the first Canadiens players to do so since 2005.^[11]

Personal life[edit]

Suzuki is the older brother of Saginaw Spirit forward and Carolina Hurricanes draft pick, Ryan Suzuki, and his grandfather is a cousin of environmentalist David Suzuki.^[12] He is fifth generation Japanese Canadian (Gosei) and is one-quarter Japanese.^[13][14]

Career statistics[edit]

Regular season and playoffs[edit]

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2015–16	Owen Sound Attack	OHL		63	20	18	38	4		6	2	0	2	0
2016–17	Owen Sound Attack	OHL		65	45	51	96	10		17	8	14	22	10
2017–18	Owen Sound Attack	OHL		64	42	58	100	18		11	3	9	12	2
2017–18	Chicago Wolves	AHL		—	—	—	—	—		1	0	0	0	0
2018–19	Owen Sound Attack	OHL		30	22	23	45	4		—	—	—	—	—
2018–19	Guelph Storm	OHL		29	12	37	49	8		24	16	26	42	16
2019–20	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		71	13	28	41	6		10	4	3	7	0
NHL totals				71	13	28	41	6		10	4	3	7	0

International[edit]

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2015	Canada White	U17			6	1	3	4	2
2016	Canada	IH18	5th		4	1	2	3	0
2019	Canada	WJC	6th		5	0	3	3	4
Junior totals					15	2	8	10	6

Awards and achievements[edit]

Award	Year
NHL
All-Rookie Team	2020