Dom Luszczyszyn (The Athletic) sparked outrage in Montreal two years ago when he said Nick Suzuki’s contract was the sixth worst in the NHL. This was the conclusion of his statistical model. He also stated that he expected Suzuki to eventually follow through on his agreement.
Essentially, it was an immediate assessment of a forward-looking contract.
Since then, Suzuki has had 66- and 77-point seasons and is recognized as one of the NHL’s best centers. Many people believe he is living up to his income.
But clearly not in everyone’s eyes.
Scott Maxwell, writing for Daily Faceoff, discussed the Habs’ salary record. He had this to say about the captain:
Scott Maxwell of the Daily Faceoff says “Nick Suzuki continues to be nowhere close to his contract…” 🤨
👇👇👇 https://t.co/HUxDjYBh2b pic.twitter.com/Q1uuaJZfKA
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) August 22, 2024
He says that most of Suzuki’s points are “empty calories on the power play.” In 2023-24, Suzuki scored 31 of his 77 points with the man advantage.
Maxwell is plainly not a fan of the Habs’ pay management. In reality, he puts the Habs’ payroll record 32nd and last in the NHL, noting the fact that the organization “took a ton of bets by paying players their cap value”.
He mentions the terrible contracts of Christian Dvorak, Brendan Gallagher, David Savard, and Josh Anderson. Joel Armia. But also those of Kirby Dach ($3.362 million for two years) and Alex Newhook ($2.9 million for three years).
The former has a case to make. Savard and Armia’s one-year contracts are not ideal at $3.5 million and $3.4 million, respectively, but they are also not underpaid. Dach and Newhook are two promising forwards who will contribute to the team’s top-6 but are too expensive at less than $3.5M.
Clearly, a potential top-6 forward at $3 million is considered costly by some.
Maxwell does not mention the contracts of Juraj Slafkovský and Kaiden Guhle, but does remark that Cole Caufield “is starting to get closer to the value of his contract”. Nonetheless, he despises Laine’s pact (which is justifiable, even if it lacks context).
And he clearly views it as an issue because it will “prevent the Habs from moving forward in their rebuild” if the team continues to shoot itself in the foot in this manner.
Our definitions of “shooting ourselves in the foot” differ. But hey.
