Canada: Nick Suzuki is not playing on the powerplay (even though he should be)

Marc-Olivier Cook
Canada: Nick Suzuki is not playing on the powerplay (even though he should be)
Credit: Screenshot/Twitter

Yesterday, we learned that Nick Suzuki was forming a line with Nathan MacKinnon and Brad Marchand during Canada's practice for the Olympics.

The Canadiens captain will clearly be in good company at the start of the tournament, which is great news for him.

But…

But we also noticed that Suzuki wasn't on either of Canada's two power play units. We know there's talent galore on this team, but at the same time, the Canadiens captain deserves to be there in a sense.

We're talking about the second-highest scoring Canadiens player in the NHL on the power play this season behind Connor McDavid. We're talking about the fifth most productive player in the NHL among all Canadiens players behind McDavid, MacKinnon, Macklin Celebrini, and Mark Scheifele.

That's no small feat. And maybe Canada's leaders are making a mistake by “ignoring” him on the powerplay.

That said, I have my own theory about all this.

By forming a line with Nathan MacKinnon, it surely means that Suzuki will be able to see a lot of ice time.

And on top of all that… there's also talk of him getting an important role on the penalty kill. Canada's coaches clearly know they can use Suzuki in a variety of ways, but they mustn't overtax him either.

To get the best out of these guys, they need to be put in the right position… and they need to get quality playing time—without necessarily being on the ice all the time.

Maybe things will change during the tournament, too.

That doesn't mean we'll never see Suzuki used on the powerplay during the competition, but seeing that he's not part of either powerplay unit at the moment is still special in itself.

It shows just how much quality talent the Canadiens have within their club…


Overtime

– Speaking of Team Canada and Suzuki:

– Nice!

– A great opportunity for Emma Maltais.

– Well done.

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