Hockey

13th pick: Nick Suzuki well on his way to becoming the best in history
Félix Forget
13th pick: Nick Suzuki well on his way to becoming the best in history
Credit: Getty Images

In 2017, the Vegas Golden Knights made Nick Suzuki the 13th overall pick in the draft. That said, Suzuki didn't last long in the Knights organization: barely a year later, he headed to Montreal in the deal that sent Max Pacioretty to Vegas.Remember that Marc Bergevin originally wanted Erik Brannström or Cody Glass, but agreed to “settle” for Suzuki.And today, Suzuki is (far) superior to the other two players. He's coming off an 89-point season… and now has 375 points in 455 career regular-season games. Interestingly, Suzuki's 375 points put him in a very good position to become the NHL's all-time top 13th pick. Because, after all, the career points leader by a 13th pick (Craig Janney) has only 751 career points.

So Suzuki is only 376 career points short of the top spot… which isn't much when you consider he'll be just 26 at the start of next campaign and has been improving steadily since joining the NHL.If he scores 80 points a season, he'll even surpass Janney before his current contract expires in five years' time. Infact, Jean-Sébastien Giguère is one of the best 13th picks in NHL history… but obviously, in terms of points, he's no match for Suzuki.

Josh Morrissey and Seth Jarvis are two other players who could be in the running… but Suzuki is more productive than they are.So there really is a world in which Suzuki, who is a true iron man, becomes the 13th pick with the most career points by the end of his current contract with the Habs.Nothing less.

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– Very cool, that.

– The Québécois is at the heart of trade rumors.

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