The Montreal Canadiens are in the midst of a close playoff race – but no matter the end result, the 2025-26 season will mark another step forward in Montreal’s long-term outlook. Top-line center Nick Suzuki reached 101 points this season, marking the first time a Canadiens player has crested the century-scoring mark since Mats Naslund reached 110 in 1986. Suzuki becomes only the fourth Canadien to reach that mark, joining Naslund and some of the core players in Montreal’s four Stanley Cup wins from the 1970s.
Suzuki’s was undoubtedly propelled by the additions of Lane Hutson, Juraj Slafkovsky, Cole Caufield, and Ivan Demidov – who have each posted breakout years early into their career. Hutson has, specifically, offered a jolt to the Canadiens’ offense – bringing a top-tier playmaking that helped him notch 146 points in the first 166 games of his career. But Suzuki has stood tall in the middle of Montreal’s dynamos, offering a full-ice awareness that has proved pivotal to the Canadiens’ movement up the ice for the last two seasons.
That full-ice ability was honored when Suzuki was named a finalist for the 2026 Selke Trophy, awarded annually to the NHL forward who best excels at the defensive side of the game. Only two players in NHL history have won the Selke Trophy and scored at least 100 points in the same season: Doug Gilmour in 1993, and Sergei Fedorov in both 1994 and 1996. Should he win, the 26-year-old Suzuki would join Hall-Of-Fame-company. Even a nomination emphasizes Suzuki’s ability to provide a top-tier impact on both sides of the ice.
Best yet, the Canadiens’ top center is still at least a couple of years away from his prime – and carries a reasonable $7.88MM cap hit through the 2029-30 season. He checks boxes across the board, locking down Montreal’s top-line and capable of performing next to a rotation of wingers – all at a discount price. Those traits, and Suzuki’s clear hockey IQ, were enough to earn him the title of youngest captain in Canadiens history when he was awarded the ‘C’ at the age of 23, in 2022. Four years later, Suzuki is continuing to find new heights in Montreal, while bringing the lineup along with him. His cohesive playmaking helped propel Caufield to 51 goals this season, second-most in the league to Nathan MacKinnon‘s 53 goals.
The Canadiens have pushed into the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after ending a three-year playoff drought last season. They seem well-set to enter the next decade of NHL action as one of the Eastern Conference’s heavy-hitters, on the back of an emerging roster. While questions still remain for some of their young guns, there is no doubt about Suzuki’s spot in Montreal’s future. With a controlled contract and incredible impacts on both ends of the ice, the Canadiens will move forward with Suzuki in a starring role – with potentially even higher heights still yet to come.