Does Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki deserve a spot on Team Canada?
Time will tell, but some folks are already pencilling the 24-year-old into their mock lineup for the 2026 Winter Olympics, which will include NHL players for the first time in over a decade.
As a part of the world’s top hockey nation, it may prove difficult for the Canadiens centre to carve out a spot, though, especially among names like Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, and even Connor Bedard.
During a recent media availability, Suzuki was asked if the Olympics is something he thinks about regularly.
“Yeah, I’ve definitely thought about it a lot. I’d love to be part of that team… We’ll see what happens,” Suzuki explained to reporters after practice on Monday. “I just gotta keep doing my job, show what type of player I could be and we’ll see what happens.”
With that said, the London, Ontario, native, who represented his country at the 2019 World Junior Championships, is well aware of how deep Canada’s talent pool is and hopes his versatility will help him stand out.
“It’s probably the hardest team you’ll ever have to make. There’s a lot of really good players,” he said. “I feel like I can defend, [penalty kill], play offensively. I think I bring a lot of different things to the table. Hopefully, they see that and I have a decent shot.”
Luckily, Suzuki’s stats will help make him a serious candidate.
With 66 points over 70 games this season, the Habs forward has already tied his season-high point total, with a dozen games to exceed it. He’s also on pace to be the first Canadiens forward since Alex Kovalev (2007-08) to surpass the 80-point milestone in a single campaign.
He sits in 35th place on the NHL’s current points leaderboard and 12th among Canadian players.
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