MUST SEE - Former NHL Coach Guy Boucher Calls Canadiens Top Player a 3rd Liner

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S. Harper
April 6, 2022 (1:09 PM)

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Ever since Martin St Louis became the Montreal Canadiens new head coach, we have seen the Habs young guns Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield take that next step as the future of the Habs and it's exciting to watch. They have been hands downs the teams top players and giving fans some amazing moments.

With many believing that Caufield and Suzuki will become super stars, one former head coach doesn't agree with one of these players. That person would be former Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators head coach Guy Boucher.

Boucher just did an interview on 985 Sports a Montreal Podcast and shared that he thinks Montreal Canadiens centre Nick Suzuki is a solid NHLer but doesn't think he's at the point where he can be a top 1-2 centre on a Stanley Cup team. Boucher explained why saying:

"I like Nick Suzuki he's a good player but I'm my opinion as a former NHL Coach. He's not anywhere on my top 6 Nicks a 3rd line guy is a good fit. Because of the Canadiens' current situation, we want to see him Suzuki as a first-line centre,» Guy Boucher said Monday on 98.5 Montréal. «He's a second-line centre maybe on most teams, but, if he were on a top team in the NHL, he would be a third-line centre. He would be a third-line centre in Tampa, in Colorado and in Toronto, he'd clearly be playing behind Auston Matthews and John Tavares for sure."

Suzuki is having the best season of his young career with 18 goals and 33 assists in 69 games. Suzuki was selected to the 2022 NHL All-Star game as the lone representative of the Montreal Canadiens making his NHL All-Star debut in Vegas the team that drafted him 13th overall in 2017.

The 22-year-old, 5-foot-11, 205-pound centre from London, Ontario, Canada has played 197 games and has 46 goals and 87 assists so far in his young career.

Nick Suzuki was traded to the Canadiens along with a 2nd round pick and Tomas Tatar for Max Pacioretty.

Credit:Montreal Hockey Now