On Monday, the 12 teams that will participate in the Olympic tournament in February named the first six players who will be part of their roster. Juraj Slafkovsky was the only Montreal Canadiens player to be named to his national team, but other Habs could make the cut before the puck drops on the Milan Cortina tournament.
One of those players is captain Nick Suzuki. Yesterday, Canada’s lineup announcement featured plenty of star power, with Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Brayden Point, and Sam Reinhart among the first six selections. There’s no real surprise there since Tampa Bay Lightning coach John Cooper will be behind the bench, and it's normal that he gets to bring his very own Swiss knife in Point.
Speaking to the media during a conference call, GM Doug Armstrong explained that there would be plenty of returning players from the 4 Nations Face-Off, adding that they would likely account for 70-80% of the Canadian roster.
The door isn’t shut for players who weren’t part of the international tournament this year, though, especially if they have a strong start to the season. The GM mentioned two players who nearly made the team for the 4 Nations and had a very strong season: St. Louis Blues' Robert Thomas and Suzuki.
The GM explained:
The easy part is now over with those first six selections. Now, it will become interesting, and we’ll be using what we see in the NHL in October, November, and December. We’re going to be watching other players, not just high scorers, but players who can excel at both ends of the ice and give us a good chance of winning the Olympic tournament.
That declaration makes sense; it’s not an All-Star game, it’s an Olympic tournament, and it bodes well for Suzuki. The Canadiens’ leader scored 89 points last season, the sixth highest total by a center in the league, but he was also 13th in Frank J. Selke voting for the league’s top defensive forward and fifth in the voting for the Lady Byng. Meaning that Suzuki can not only play at both ends of the ice, but he also plays a clean game, really being sent to the penalty box, and putting his team in trouble.
The Habs captain can do it all; he can score and play on the power play, but he can also neutralize the opponent’s top forwards and play on the penalty kill. Furthermore, last year, after the 4 Nations’ break, he proved to be quite the leader when he put the Canadiens on his back and carried them to the playoffs, not single-handedly, but he was undoubtedly the main reason Montreal made the Spring dance.
When the puck drops on the season, Suzuki will have a bit of extra motivation. He played once in the World Junior Championship, in 2019, when Canada hosted the tournament but failed to make the medal round following a 2-1 quarterfinal loss to Finland. In five games, he had put up three assists. Chances are, the center would like to forge happier memories wearing his country’s colours.
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