Canadiens among teams that “may” have a number one center, according to The Hockey News

One of the most important elements in building a highly competitive hockey team in the National Hockey League is a solid first center.

In fact, when we analyze and compare different teams’ chances of having good seasons, we usually compare each team’s number-one center first.

This is an extremely important element in being competitive in the NHL, so every team must base its future on a solid first-line center.

That’s why, for several years now, Montreal Canadiens fans have been placing so much importance on finding a number-one center, something the team hasn’t had for a long time.

Tomas Plekanec, David Desharnais and Phillip Danault have been good and done a great job, but they’re clearly not number-one centers for a Stanley Cup contender.

On the other hand, is Nick Suzuki one in your eyes?

The 24-year-old center has established himself more and more as the Habs’ best center in recent years, and last season he got even better, recording his first 30-plus-goal, 70-plus-point season (33 goals – 44 assists – 77 points).

In short, Suzuki was excellent in 2023-2024, but does that officially earn him the title of number one center?

Well, according to The Hockey News, not quite yet.

Indeed, in one of their recent articles, the renowned hockey site ranked NHL teams according to whether they have a true number one center in their line-up.

And in this list, Suzuki and the Canadiens find themselves in the “maybe” section.

So, after the eight teams with an elite number-one center(EDM – McDavid, COL – MacKinnon, FLO – Barkov, TOR -Matthews, PIT – Crosby, TBL – Point, VAN – Miller and VGK – Eichel) and the six teams with a good number-one center(CAR – Aho, DAL – Hintz, DET – Larkin, NYI – Horvat, STL – Thomas and WIN – Scheifele), we find the Habs and Suzuki.

It’s in this section that we find the teams that could have a number-one center on hand.

Also in this section are Boston – Elias Lindholm, New Jersey – Jack Hughes, Buffalo – Dylan Cozens, Ottawa – Tim Stützle and Washington – Pierre-Luc Dubois.

It’s not hard to see Suzuki alongside Hughes and Stützle.

According to The Hockey News, the element Suzuki needs most to put the Habs in the category of teams with a good number-one center is team success.

If the Habs can even manage to become competitive again and string together good playoff runs, Suzuki will move up a category.

THN also specified that, in the case of Hughes and Stützle, all they need to do is improve their defensive game and stay healthy, two elements Suzuki already possesses in his game.

All in all, I think it’s a very fair and well-explained ranking, and I really believe that Suzuki will manage to move up to the next category without any problem.

UnlessIvan Demidov actually plays center in Montreal one day, the Habs shouldn’t move up into the elite number-one center category.

To find out more about the rest of THN’s list and analysis, I’ve linked to their excellent article here.

Overtime

– To watch.

– This is indeed disrespectful.

Only three NHLers on list.

The Daily: Columnist Says ESPN Disrespected NHL; Lalonde’s Mandate https://t.co/k4tdTnbvUk

– Kevin Allen (@ByKevinAllen) July 20, 2024

– Interesting.

The NHL’s revenue breakdown compared to the other big three North American pro sports leagues shows it’s still primarily a gate driven entity. pic.twitter.com/N05ZYk1S3k

– Allan Walsh (@walsha) July 19, 2024

– Indeed.

– It’s understandable.