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“Nick Suzuki isn’t even close to playing up to his contract”

 David Miller
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“Nick Suzuki isn’t even close to playing up to his contract”
Credit: Getty Images

Two years ago, Dom Luszczyszyn (The Athletic) caused quite a stir in Montreal when he wrote that Nick Suzuki’s contract was the ninth worst in the NHL. In fact, it was the conclusion of his statistical model… and he said he expected Suzuki to play up to his pact eventually.

It was an immediate assessment of a forward-looking contract, basically.

Since then, Suzuki has posted 66- and 77-point seasons, and is regarded as one of the NHL’s top centers. So, in the eyes of many, he’s playing up to his salary…

But obviously, not in everyone’s eyes.

In a piece for the Daily Faceoff, Scott Maxwell discussed the Habs’ salary record… and had this to say about the captain:

Nick Suzuki isn’t even close to playing up to his contract. – Scott Maxwell

He explains his point by saying that Suzuki’s points are mostly “empty calories on the power play.” In 2023-24, Suzuki scored 31 of his 77 points with the man advantage.

And clearly, Maxwell isn’t a fan of the Habs’ salary management. In fact, he ranks the Habs’ salary record 32nd and last in the NHL, citing the fact that the club “took a ton of bets by paying players their cap value”.

He cites the poor contracts of Christian Dvorak, Brendan Gallagher, David Savard and Joel Armia… but also those of Kirby Dach ($3.362M for two years) and Alex Newhook ($2.9M for three years).

In the case of the former, there’s a case to be made. At $3.5 million and $3.4 million for one year, Savard and Armia aren’t great contracts… but they’re not exactly pushovers either. However, in the case of Dach and Newhook, we’re talking about two young forwards who will help the team’s top-6… but who are obviously too expensive at under $3.5M.

Clearly, a potential top-6 forward at $3M is expensive in the eyes of some.

Maxwell, who doesn’t mention the contracts of Juraj Slafkovský and Kaiden Guhle, does note, however, that at least Cole Caufield “is starting to get closer to the value of his contract”. That said, he hates Laine’s pact (which is defensible, even if it lacks context).

And clearly, he sees it as a problem in that it will “prevent the Habs from moving forward in their rebuild” if the club continues to shoot itself in the foot like this.

We obviously don’t have the same definition of “shooting ourselves in the foot”… but hey.


Overtime

– Sidney Crosby is as excellent as ever.

– Kyle Dubas is happy to have Rutger McGroarty.

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