Suzuki named Canadiens captain, youngest in team history

Nick Suzuki was named the 31st captain of the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.

The 23-year-old center is the youngest captain in Canadiens history; Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Sylvio Mantha was named captain at age 24 to begin the 1926-27 season. Suzuki is the second full-time captain of Asian heritage in NHL history. Hall of Fame forward Paul Kariya held the position for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim from 1996 to 2003, and Richard Park was one of five rotating captains (Jim Dowd, Andrew Brunette, Brad Brown, Brad Bombardir) for the Minnesota Wild in 2003-04.
"It's an honor for me to become captain of the Montreal Canadiens," Suzuki said. "It's a true honor for me and a privilege. This team is headed in a great direction and I couldn't be more excited to be the captain and represent the team. It means a lot just to see the respect that the management, teammates, coaches have for me. I know it's a big role but I think I'm ready for it, and there's a bright future here and I'm excited to be part of it."
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Suzuki, who is entering the first season of an eight-year, $63 million contract he agreed to Oct. 12, 2021, had an NHL career high 61 points (21 goals, 40 assists) in 82 games last season.
"The thing about Nick, sometimes you talk to a 23-year-old, he feels like he's 18, but Nick is the opposite," Canadiens executive vice president Jeff Gorton said. "He's a very even-keeled guy. When I talk to him, I feel like he's 30 years old and I feel like he's been in the League a long time, even though he hasn't. I think Nick is a great fit for where we are and where we're going."
Suzuki replaces Shea Weber, a defenseman traded to the Vegas Golden Knights for forward Evgenii Dadonov on June 16. Weber, who had been Canadiens captain since Oct. 1, 2018, did not play last season, and it's possible his career is over. The 37-year-old has five seasons remaining on a 14-year contract he signed with the Nashville Predators, who matched an offer sheet he was given by the Philadelphia Flyers prior to the 2012-13 season. It has an annual NHL salary cap charge of $7.85 million.
"I spoke to 'Webby,'" Suzuki said. "I had a phone call with him, just talking to him about what he experienced, and obviously I got to see it firsthand of how great a leader he was. We had a great talk and he really made me comfortable and thinking I could do it."

Forward Brendan Gallagher and defenseman Joel Edmundson were named alternate captains.
Chosen by the Golden Knights in the first round (No. 13) of the 2017 NHL Draft, Suzuki was traded to the Canadiens with forward Tomas Tatar and a second-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft for forward Max Pacioretty on Sept. 10, 2018. His streak of 209 consecutive games played is tied with Calgary Flames forward Elias Lindholm for the sixth longest active streak in the NHL. He has 143 points (49 goals, 94 assists) in 209 regular-season games and 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) in 32 Stanley Cup Playoff games. Suzuki's 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in 22 postseason games helped Montreal reach the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, a five-game loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
"I had a meeting with Nick in July and brought [up] the idea and my thoughts," Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. "I wanted him to think about it and lean on some of his close circle of friends or family. It's a big decision and you have to be ready for it. While he did that, I had talks with (general manager) Kent Hughes and 'Gorts' and other players. We circled back, had further discussions and made that decision."
The Canadiens (22-49-11) were last in the NHL in 2021-22, ranking at or near the bottom of the NHL in each major category: goals (218, 27th), goals against (317, 32nd), power play (13.7 percent, 31st) and penalty kill (75.6 percent, 27th).
"[Suzuki is] a young player but very mature," Gallagher said. "I think the most important thing is he has the respect of every single guy in our locker room. He's the heartbeat of our team. The biggest thing is we're trying to win some hockey games. We have a leader that we're happy to follow and we think is going to be able to take us there."

St. Louis agreed to a three-year contract June 1 to remain Canadiens coach. Montreal went 14-19-4 under St. Louis, who replaced Dominique Ducharme on Feb. 9 after the Canadiens won eight of their first 45 games (8-30-7).
Seven teams are without a captain: the Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, Philadelphia Flyers, Seattle Kraken and Winnipeg Jets. The Jets announced Friday that they would enter the season without a captain, a role which was held by forward Blake Wheeler for the past six seasons.
NHL.com independent correspondent Sean Farrell contributed to this report