As the new season draws near, it’s hard not to notice that the Montreal Canadiens’ penalty kill has been depleted this offseason. GM Kent Hughes elected to let Joel Armia and Christian Dvorak walk away in free agency, and David Savard retired. While there are plenty of options on the blueline to step into Savard’s skates on the PK, the same cannot be said about up front, however.
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If Martin St-Louis is short of options, there’s one player who’s more than willing to step in: captain Nick Suzuki. Speaking to RDS’s Marc Denis at the Canadiens’ golf tournament, the center described his own objectives as follows:
Just kind of more of the same, I think I can improve still in different areas, even scoring, and you know, getting assists and all that. I think that comes with playing with good players and being a good team. Just trying to focus on my defensive side, hopefully penalty kill a bit more this year, and being really good at that too. […] I’ve always PKed my whole life and I love it. I think I can be effective on it, but Marty’s trying to manage the minutes and give guys opportunities to do that, so we’ll see what happens, but I’m there and ready if he needs me to PK.- Suzuki on his objectives and playing on the PK
As Suzuki said himself, the coach is mindful of managing his ice time, but he clearly would like to do it. As reported earlier this summer, playing that role for the Canadiens would likely increase his chances of making Team Canada for the Olympics. While he’s the number one center in Montreal, that’s not the kind of role he’d play on the national team, and showing just how effective he can be on the penalty kill would be a plus.
It's understandable, however, that Martin St-Louis would like to manage his top center’s minutes since he is his top offensive weapon. However, suppose the Canadiens manage to ice a truly competitive second line, and it takes some of the production’s burden off Suzuki’s plate. In that case, there might be more of an opportunity for Suzuki to play when down a man.
That will be one of the stories to follow as training camp unfolds and we get to see who St-Louis would like to see shoulder the load when down a man.
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