Nick Suzuki's Next Contract is Going to be a Dandy

When you trade one of the best goal-scorers you've had in decades, you better get a good return out of it.

That's exactly what the Montreal Canadiens got when they moved Max Pacioretty to Vegas in a deal that gave the Habs a budding star in Nick Suzuki. Suzuki, the second of three players selected by Vegas during the team's selection process in 2017, was expected to be one of the cornerstone centers of the team with Cody Glass, taken seven picks earlier. But the Golden Knights needed someone to take them over the edge immediately, and that's what Pacioretty offered Vegas - but down the road, it looks like Montreal will truly win the deal.

Just 21, Suzuki is coming off of a strong playoff run where he finished with 16 points in 22 games – good enough to lead the Canadiens following the Stanley Cup final. But now he has a year left on his entry-level contract, and the way he's trending, Suzuki's next contract is going to make him a wealthy man.

The easiest solution, and one Canadiens fans will want, is to sign him to a long-term deal. He'll be 22 when his contract comes to an end and after consecutive 41-point seasons – including a full-season pace of around 60 points – the Canadiens know he'll be an important piece of the team's future.

Suzuki idolized Boston's Patrice Bergeron growing up, and his teammates tend to agree he plays a similar way. Like Bergeron did with David Pastrnak, Suzuki found his wingman in the way of Cole Caufield, Montreal's other highly coveted forward that's bound to be worth many millions a year on his next contract, too. 

The decisions GM Marc Bergevin makes this off-season will help dictate what happens with Suzuki's next contract. Ideally, the Canadiens sign him this summer when the free-agent market opens for business and potentially gets him at a cheaper price, but it's hard to imagine Suzuki's camp agreeing to terms so quickly. Just given how good he was in the post-season alone, his stock is rising at such a rate that they'll want to squeeze every dollar they can – or sign for a lesser term to potentially max out on his return before eventually becoming a UFA.

Regardless, Suzuki's contract is going to become a priority in Montreal, a team that'll want to build upon its surprising Stanley Cup final run this season. As it stands, the Canadiens currently have $14.67 million in projected cap space for 2021-22 with five unsigned UFA forwards, two defensemen and two additional RFAs in Artturi Lehkonen and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Jon Merrill, Erik Gustafsson, Eric Staal and Tomas Tatar all are unlikely to return, and the RFAs shouldn't cost too much. 

Why does this matter? Because while a new deal for Suzuki won't hit the books until 2022-23, cap management in the meantime will have an impact on his next deal.

Among forwards, Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson are the only two currently signed past 2024 and Caufield won't be an RFA until after the 2022-23 season. There's significant money tied into Shea Weber ($7.86 million until 2026) and Jeff Petry ($6.25 million until 2025) and Carey Price's $10.5 million hit hurts in a flattened cap, despite how good he was in the post-season. But otherwise, Bergevin is looking at a blank slate, and that bodes well for Suzuki.

In an ideal world, the Canadiens can snag him for eight years at $6-7 million. With the flat cap, the Canadiens have an opportunity to take advantage of the situation, but Suzuki's camp knows what he's worth. If the Habs got him on a bridge deal, they risk needing to get him for even more in the future if Suzuki really becomes something special. The positive, though, is that if Suzuki doesn't live up to expectations and falls closer to what Alex Galchenyuk became – and that's not looking like the case – the Canadiens would be able to back out without causing severe cap strain down the road, so the longer term might be worth it for someone of Suzuki's caliber. 

Regardless of when he signs – either later this month or a year from now – Suzuki's contract situation will be one of the more interesting ones to watch in Habsland right now.