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Montreal Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki, 23, became the youngest captain in team history on Monday.
Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes announced the appointment and said the decision was made by the club’s hockey executives. Suzuki, an alternate last season, will succeed defenseman Shea Weber, who served as captain between 2018 and 2022, although he did not play last season due to injury.
Veteran defenseman Joel Edmundson and forward Brendan Gallagher will fill Montreal’s alternate captain spots.
Suzuki begins his fourth NHL season next month and will do so in the first year of an eight-year contract extension signed last October. He will most likely occupy the center spot on Montreal’s top line as the Canadiens continue their rebuild.
“He’s the heartbeat of our team,” Gallagher said. “He is absolutely ready for this opportunity.”
Suzuki made his NHL debut in 2019–20 and was named to the league’s All-Rookie team. He has 49 goals and 143 points in 209 career games and helped the Canadiens to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
An Ontario native, Suzuki was a first-round pick by Las Vegas in 2017 before being dealt to Montreal in a trade that sent former Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty to the Golden Knights.
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