“In my book, Nick Suzuki isn’t a defensive forward”

Félix Forget
“In my book, Nick Suzuki isn’t a defensive forward”
Credit: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

Yesterday morning, we learned that Nick Suzuki had won the Selke Trophy. The Habs' captain, who has been dominant defensively at 5-on-5 this year, received nearly all of the first-place votes to win his first career Selke.

No, it wasn't even close.

That said, it's interesting to note that Martin Leclerc, during the most recent episode of Tellement Hockey, seemed to have a bit of a hard time with the decision. Because, in his view, Suzuki isn't a defensive forward.

The fact that he barely plays on the penalty kill, in his view, makes it ridiculous that the captain received so many votes.

Leclerc emphasizes that he has a ton of respect for Suzuki and acknowledges that Suzuki dominated his 5-on-5 minutes against fierce opposition. However, in his view, those aspects don't strictly qualify as defensive play.

He cites numerous past winners (Guy Carbonneau and Patrice Bergeron, for example) who were all penalty-killing specialists.

And we know that the issue of his shorthanded minutes is a topic that has drawn attention in Suzuki's case. Obviously, we can't blame him for that (especially since the Habs have other excellent defensive forwards who are used to lighten Suzuki's workload), but it's rare to see a Selke Trophy winner play so few minutes on the penalty kill.

But on the other hand, it might be a sign that we now have access to more statistics to recognize a player's defensive impact. Because this season, at 5-on-5, Suzuki has truly, truly been dominant defensively.


In a nutshell

– As expected: Andrei Vasilevskiy wins the Vezina Trophy.

– Note.

– Touching.

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