Max Pacioretty was back in Montreal on Saturday with his Vegas Golden Knights and the Canadiens got the winning goal from Tomas Tatar, one of the pieces they received when Marc Bergevin decided to trade his captain, the piece he acquired to immediately replace some of Pacioretty’s offence. But as well as Tatar has played so far, the primary piece in that trade remains Nick Suzuki, and he continues to show why by lighting up the OHL with the Owen Sound Attack.
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For the past three seasons, Suzuki has been one of junior hockey’s most dynamic threats. But he’s also been one of the most diverse.
Suzuki is equal parts shooter and passer. He’s highly capable in his own zone and can turn defence into offence. He’s a skilled puckhandler, but can beat players in a variety of ways.
In recent games, it has been through goal scoring that Suzuki has made his biggest impact. His 0.66 goals per game pace over the past two seasons was among the CHL’s best, but this season’s 0.85 clip is simply incredible.
If that wasn’t impressive enough, he’s scored 14 in his last 13 games.
Suzuki doesn’t just score goals in one or two ways. He’s scored his goals in many different ways, which bodes well for his eventual transition to the NHL.
After combing over all of Suzuki’s goals this season and over 100 shots, I’ve identified four distinct types of goals that Suzuki scores, each with their own defining traits. Three of those types of goals give me reason to believe he’ll score in the NHL one day: The wrist shot with a delay, the catch and release, and the second effort. Not to be overlooked is Suzuki’s ability to finish in tight around the net.
The first of those three categories of goals and shots that Suzuki uses is a relatively recent addition to his skill set; the wrister with a drag back and/or delay in the release.
Previously, Suzuki relied on dexterous in tight finishes and well-timed cuts to the slot to score. But Suzuki has scored most often this season using that delayed wrister from outside the slot.
Suzuki has refined his shot substantially over the past three years. He’s gone from a decent shooter to an exceptionally dangerous one. Power and accuracy are significant areas of development, but the way he releases his shot is every bit as important.
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Drawing on the concept of shot threat I explored a couple of weeks back, Suzuki threatens to shoot as much as possible. He opens his stance, pulls the puck to his side and shows an open blade to the goaltender. He convinces the opposition that he’s going to shoot. Suzuki’s options are to shoot right away, shoot after a delay, or pass. He’s already grabbed a couple of assists by showing shot in this manner, but Suzuki’s preferred choice has been shooting after a delay.
Delaying the shot presents two key benefits. First, it allows him to drag the puck back to generate more power. Second, that delay can freeze the goaltender and defenders as they wait for what seems to be an inevitable shot.
The drag back release does come with drawbacks. Due to its longer release time, defenders have more time to disrupt the play and goaltenders have more time to challenge the shot. But it’s only an issue if it’s the player’s only shot in his tool kit, which is not the case for Suzuki.
He can also shoot the puck right away, without much of a drag back, and it looks very much the same without losing much power on his shot. The benefit of the delay is that it keeps goaltenders and defenders guessing while he picks his spot. But the actual release is also faster because instead of shooting from behind his feet, the shot originates from beside or even in front of him.
It’s also important to note where Suzuki is placing the puck when he shoots. He’s scoring many of his goals on the short side, often cleanly beating goaltenders square to him.
Shot selection — or the player’s choice of shot type, placement and release — is a strength of Suzuki’s. If he has the space, he’ll use the drag back to generate more power. If he’s short on space, he’ll release from his skates or even in front of him, or maybe use a snapshot.
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The second way that Suzuki has scored goals and generated shots is with a catch-and-release. This shot is often used by Suzuki from the right side. Since he’s a right shot, he can’t one-time the pass coming across, so the catch-and-release presents the next best option.
The motion of the catch-and-release begins with the “catch,” or receiving the pass. This might seem mundane, but it’s necessary for the shot to succeed. A bobble or even having the pass hit your stick slightly too hard could result in a loss of possession. Suzuki has a built-in safety mechanism to prevent that.
Watch the goal below and notice he extends his reach to catch the puck on his first touch. This softens the puck and also allows him to use the weight of the puck to quickly transition into a shooting stance. His second touch moves the puck from his toe to the middle of his blade and he unloads the shot off his outside foot.
Suzuki can also score without being square to the net. In the clip below, watch Suzuki skate into open space, catch a pass with a one-touch to space and then use the second touch to wire a puck past the goaltender. His chest and feet face the boards the entire time, which makes it more difficult to generate power for most players. To compensate, many players will take an extra split-second to turn onto their inside leg to square up to the net. Suzuki, however, doesn’t change the direction of his body and still blows a shot past the goaltender.
Another clever trait that Suzuki uses to make an obvious shot less obvious is where he places his hands on his stick. In the goals above, he kept his hands high rather than towards the middle of the shaft like most players, making his release quicker and more deceptive.
The third type of goal Suzuki scores come off the second effort. This isn’t just about competing; there’s plenty of skill involved in the second effort. Knowing when to lift a player’s stick, quickly cradling the puck for a turnaround shot or a soft touch to settle the puck require skills that are often overlooked.
The goal below is a great example of how many different tools Suzuki uses to create offence. He attacks the blue line with speed generated through two short crossovers and shows the delayed wrister discussed earlier, which convinces the defender to reach in rather than match Suzuki’s feet. Suzuki, rarely content with shots from the high slot, pushes the puck into space from a shooting stance and flies around the defender for a clean shot on goal. Suzuki’s five-hole bid is denied, but he tracks his own rebound, spins and throws it in the net.
How Suzuki’s goals will translate to the NHL remains to be seen. He will have less time to fire his shots in the NHL, so I think the drag back and delayed release will be best used as a backup option. It could be more of a primary option on the power play, but it’s also fair to assume that NHL goaltenders will be less likely to concede the short side.
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On the other hand, Suzuki’s slight delay looks like a potential high-end shot in the NHL. A high grip, with the puck beside or in front of his skates as a start point and an impressive combination of power and accuracy are all awfully reminiscent of Pacioretty’s preferred release.
The third type of goal we highlighted, the second effort with skill, is also one that’s easy to see translating to the NHL, not to mention Suzuki’s soft touch around the goal or well-timed slot drives to pick up rebounds that we’ve seen from him in the past. These are all goals that could be scored in the NHL.
Now, it’s also important to note that Suzuki lacks a couple of traits that high-end goalscorers have. He rarely uses the one-timer (just 8 percent of his shots have been one-timers this season) and the data shows that one-timers are the most effective finishing option in the NHL. The lack of a one-timer is likely a product of Suzuki usually being the primary playmaker on his line and preferring to attack on his strong side, giving him no one-time option.
Second, for Suzuki to emerge as a long-range threat in the NHL, I think he will have to change the shooting angle more. Changing the angle is characterized by a pull (or push) motion on the puck during the release of the shot. The goaltender, square to the original angle of the shot, will have a harder time stopping the shot from the new angle, which is why it’s a key characteristic of the elite shooters in the NHL today.
The majority of players are forced to adapt and find new ways to score once they make the NHL. I have little doubt that Suzuki will find ways to do the same. He has already improved his shot, skating, and defensive play in the last few seasons and regularly exhibits an ability to make in-game adjustments to what the opposition is doing.
Adaptability goes hand-in-hand with diversity in the make up of an unpredictable attacker. Suzuki is already a diverse scorer, as we’ve shown here. Although he has his preferred spots, few players in junior hockey boast a wider array of shooting or overall skills.
In addition to the tantalizing skill and smarts, it’s Suzuki’s adaptability and diversity that make him a special prospect, one that continues to show why he was the key piece for the Canadiens in the Pacioretty trade.
(Photo: Julian Avram/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)