CHICAGO — Nick Suzuki will miss the next two-to-four weeks with an upper-body injury, the Montreal Canadiens announced before departing for Chicago on Thursday.
This is adversity. The kind this team hasn’t faced since the onset of their rebuild four-and-a-half years ago and the kind they need least right now at 4-3-2, sitting in sixth place in the Atlantic Division and 20th in the National Hockey League.
But it’s here now, and how the Canadiens handle it could very well determine their fate this season.
If that seems hyperbolic, consider what Suzuki means to them.
He’s their captain, their most complete player, their current leading scorer and, without question, their least replaceable player, so when Juraj Slafkovsky called Suzuki “one of the biggest parts of this team,” just moments after the injury news broke, he was understating it.
“It’s a huge loss; nobody can really fill Suzy’s shoes,” Cole Caufield told reporters at the team’s practice facility just hours before the team departed for a four-game road trip that begins against the Blackhawks Friday, because he knows it’s true.
It’s a jarring reality for Caufield and his teammates to face knowing they’ve been fortunate to have had Suzuki available to them for every game he’s been eligible to play since he stepped into the league for his first one in 2019.
But now Suzuki’s 546-game ironman streak, which was the second-longest one in in the NHL behind Colorado’s Brent Burns (1017), is over.
It was under threat from the second he blocked Michael Kesselring’s shot with the back of his left hand, even if he somehow didn’t miss a shift after that happened in the 15th minute of the third period in Tuesday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks.
But now the 27-year-old will officially miss the next seven games, and that’s if he’s fortunate enough to only be out two weeks.
The Canadiens could be without Suzuki for as many as 14 games if he needs the full month to recover, and that could feel like an eternity to them if they struggle in his absence.
They’re at serious risk to do exactly that, with top-six winger Ivan Demidov also still sidelined by a lower-body injury — and with Oliver Kapanen stepping into Suzuki’s slot less than one week after returning from a knee injury that kept him out of action through the first 18 days of the season.
“I feel really good now,” Kapanen said.
He could feel his very best, but he’d still be challenged stepping in for Suzuki as the first-line centre when he hasn’t yet nailed down a role as second-line centre — despite reasonable success from that chair last season — and has been playing fourth-line wing.
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Still, this presents opportunity to both Kapanen and the Canadiens, and their ability to seize it would be just as determinant for their season as a collapse in Suzuki’s absence would be.
Coach Martin St. Louis believes they can step up.
He said Kapanen, who had 22 goals and 37 points as a rookie, should feel at home with talented players like Slafkovsky and Caufield — especially after playing between Slafkovsky and Demidov for more than half of last season — and he talked about how the Canadiens can band together to overcome this challenge.
“Just fall back on the collective game,” St. Louis said. “We’re just going to keep going. It’s a big piece, but we’ll be ready… And we’re always going to fall back on our collective game.”
It’s been strong for the Canadiens, despite their record. Particularly at five-on-five, where they rank fifth in the NHL in shot attempt percentage and ninth in expected goals.
There should be a natural dropoff in Suzuki’s absence in both categories, but not so much of one that the Canadiens shouldn’t be able to sustain a high level of play.
Still, they’ll miss Suzuki in key moments. They’ll miss him on the power play, on which he produced 43 of his 101 points last season. They’ll miss him on the defensive side of the puck, where he excels as the reigning Selke Trophy winner.
And the Canadiens will have to figure out how to manage their room without him right now.
St. Louis believes that’s the least of their challenges.
“I know Suzy’s our captain, but we have a lot of leaders,” he said. “Our culture will help us come through this. For sure, you lose a huge piece, but I think we’ll be able to continue.”
They’re already barely keeping pace in the NHL’s most competitive division and falling further behind could prove disastrous.
It’s a test the Canadiens don’t currently need.
“But we can’t do anything about it,” said Slafkovsky. “Just gotta wait (for Suzuki’s return) and fight for him. Just be ready for the game, be ready to play hard and win games when he’s not playing so when he comes back, we’re in a good spot.”