Nick Suzuki seen as a successor to Patrice Bergeron?

Nick Suzuki is quite the hockey player. Not only is he rarely injured, but he consistently produces and excels in all aspects of the game.

The number 14 is on track to have the best season of his young career in terms of points, but also in other aspects. It is well-known that he is strong defensively as well.

According to Dom Luszczyszyn's model from The Athletic, the Canadiens' captain is leading the race across the NHL for the Selke Trophy, awarded to the best defensive forward in the league.

He narrowly edges out Sam Reinhart of the Panthers, with Jordan Staal of the Hurricanes in third place.



We are almost halfway through the season, which makes this statistic even more remarkable. Suzuki is outperforming everyone, including past winners like Anze Kopitar and Aleksander Barkov.

With 34 points in 39 games, his production is more than enough to be a contender for the trophy, but his -10 rating might be a concern. Personally, I find it challenging for a player with a negative plus-minus to win this award.

Nevertheless, the fact that he is leading the race with 39 games played is already an achievement not seen with the Canadiens since Guy Carbonneau.