It was Suzuki who asked Martin St-Louis to put Slafkovsky on his line.

Since the start of the season, Hockey night in Canada has been more like Hockey night in Toronto.

Sportsnet’s expert panel only talks about Torontonians and very rarely about other Canadian teams. But tonight, Montreal was taking on the Leafs, so the analysts couldn’t ignore the Montreal team.

They did an excellent interview with Nick Suzuki in which we learned several interesting tidbits.

Firstly, Kevin Bieksa, in asking his question, said that it was the captain who had asked Martin St-Louis to put Juraj Slafkovsky on his line. The Slovak was struggling, as we’ll recall.

Suzuki therefore wanted to take him under his wings.

“Juraj started the season with 2A in his first 15 games. He wasn’t playing good hockey…Nick Suzuki, being the leader that he is, went into coach Marty’s office & said: ‘Put him on my line. I’m gonna help teach him to play the right way on both sides of the ice.”

– Kevin Bieksa pic.twitter.com/TJtGGuPKbV

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) April 6, 2024

The Canadiens’ center walked into the coach’s office and asked if he could help the first overall pick of the 2022 auction.

He wanted to show him how to perform well in both directions of the rink. In any case, a few months after the two players reunited (along with Cole Caufield), it’s safe to say that Suzuki’s challenge was successful. Suzuki has 72 points in 75 games (before tonight’s games) and Slaf has 44 in 75. Not bad!

Obviously, the first line has great chemistry.

“I see a lot in Slaf’s game. I thought he would be a good fit [on my line]. Ever since we got to play together, he’s really taken the challenge to play against the top guys and play with me & Cole and we’ve had a lot of chemistry and success lately.”

– Nick Suzuki on Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/MSYADOgZvL

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) April 6, 2024

Even though 14 is the leader of the lineup, the captain, the best player, the number-one center (I can go on for three more paragraphs), he’s not alone on this team. If he has questions, he doesn’t hesitate to talk to veterans like Brendan Gallagher, David Savard and Mike Matheson.

All three have seen a lot of the NHL and like to help younger players. One who likes to help the guys, too: Martin St-Louis. In fact, he’s a role model for Nick.

“Marty was a captain for a long time, he’s been a big role model for me ever since he joined the team.”

– Nick Suzuki on Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/DiS1Gf3zQ3

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) April 6, 2024