Nick Suzuki

Early life

Suzuki was born on August 10, 1999, in London, Ontario, to parents Rob and Amanda. As a child, he suffered from several health conditions including hand, foot, and mouth disease, several bouts of pneumonia due to respiratory syncytial virus, and recurrent ear infections, the latter of which required surgery to insert tympanostomy tubes. Suzuki's health improved as he grew older, and he began ice skating at the age of three. He befriended his neighbour Isaac Ratcliffe, and the two began playing sports together when they were eight: ice hockey in the winter, and golf and soccer in the summer. Suzuki and Ratcliffe went on to play minor ice hockey together for the London Jr. Knights, where they led their team to the semifinals of the annual OHL Cup. After leading the league with 34 goals and 68 points in 31 games, Suzuki was named the ALLIANCE Hockey Player of the Year for the 2014–15 season.

Playing career

Junior

Selected in the first round (14th overall) of the 2015 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) priority selection draft by the Owen Sound Attack, Suzuki signed with the team that June. He made an immediate impact upon his debut, with two goals and one assist through the first three games of the 2015–16 season. This included his first career major junior goal against the Kitchener Rangers on September 25. After finishing the first half of his rookie campaign with an overtime goal against the London Knights, Suzuki registered his first OHL hat-trick on January 30 in a 5–2 win over the Ottawa 67's. He scored his 20th goal of the year in the last regular-season game, a 7–3 loss to Kitchener, becoming the first Attack rookie to produce 20 goals in his 16-year-old season since Joey Hishon in 2008. With 38 cumulative points in 63 games played, Suzuki was the only 16-year-old in the OHL over the course of the season to score 20 or more goals. He added two more goals in six postseason games before the Knights eliminated Owen Sound in the first round. Thereafter, he was named to the OHL First All-Rookie Team at centre.

Entering the 2016–17 season, Suzuki, who had a goal and an assist in his first four games, was named a Player to Watch by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. By mid-December, Suzuki was eighth in the OHL with 43 points and had already tied his previous season high of 20 goals. He was subsequently named to Team Cherry at the 2017 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. He was the top-ranked member of the Attack in the NHL Central Scouting Bureau's mideterm report, named the number 16 North American skating prospect. Suzuki moved up to 10th in the final Central Scouting Rankings after ending the regular season with 45 goals and 96 points in 65 games. He added an additional eight goals and 23 points in 17 postseason games as the Attack reached the OHL Western Conference Finals, where they were eliminated by the Erie Otters in six games. At the end of his sophomore season, Suzuki was named to the OHL Second All-Star Team, and he also received both the William Hanley Trophy and the CHL Sportsman of the Year award after recording only 10 penalty minutes in 65 games. In June 2017, the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL) selected Suzuki in the first round, 13th overall, of that year's NHL entry draft, and signed him to an entry-level contract the following month.

Initially attending the Golden Knights' training camp prior to the 2017–18 season, Suzuki would be reassigned to Owen Sound on September 22. Upon his return, he was named an assistant captain for the Attack. Suzuki recorded several milestones over the course of the ensuing OHL season. On February 3, 2018, he registered his 200th OHL point with an assist on Kevin Hancock's goal against the Kitchener Rangers. His 100th OHL goal came on March 10, in a 3–0 win over the Saginaw Spirit. One week later, Suzuki earned his 100th point of the season, scoring two goals and recording an assist against the Sarnia Sting. He became the fifth Attack player in history to record a 100-point season, and the first since Bobby Ryan during the 2006–07 season. Suzuki finished his third OHL season with 42 goals and 58 assists in 64 games, and he was awarded his second consecutive William Hanley Trophy after recording only 18 penalty minutes during the season.

Professional

After making an impression on general manager Marc Bergevin during training camp, Suzuki was named to the Canadiens' opening-night roster for the 2019–20 season. He made his NHL debut on October 3, 2019, a 4–3 shootout loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Five days later, Suzuki assisted on Joel Armia's goal against the Buffalo Sabres to earn his first career NHL point. Suzuki's first career NHL goal came in just his seventh game played, when he scored on Alex Stalock in a 4–0 shutout victory over the Minnesota Wild. With this, he and defenceman Victor Mete became the first Montreal teammates to score their first career goals in the same game since Chris Higgins and Alexander Perezhogin in 2005. Alternating between centre and wing, Suzuki had seven goals and 19 points by the NHL's midseason holiday break. On February 8, 2020, Suzuki recorded his 35th point with an assist on Ilya Kovalchuk's game-winning goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was the first Montreal rookie to register that many points since Higgins during the 2005–06 season. With four goals and 10 points in the month of February, including a team-leading five power play points, Suzuki was awarded the Molson Cup as Montreal's player of the month. At the time that the regular NHL season was suspended indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Suzuki had 13 goals and 41 points in 71 games. He was one of only three players to appear in every regular-season game, and his 41 points were second to Guy Lafleur for the most of any Montreal rookie aged 20 or younger.

With the NHL forgoing the remainder of the regular season to begin the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs that July, Suzuki was one of 31 players selected to join the team in Toronto. He scored his first postseason NHL goal in the first game of the Stanley Cup qualifiers, putting Montreal up 2–0 in an eventual 3–2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Advancing to the Eastern Conference First Round, the Canadiens would lose to the Philadelphia Flyers in six games. Suzuki finished with four goals and seven points in 10 games, tying Jonathan Drouin for the most of any Canadiens skater in that year's playoffs. At the end of the season, he was named to the annual NHL All-Rookie Team.

Starting the 2020–21 season on the top offensive line with Drouin and Josh Anderson, Suzuki began the year on a six-game point streak. That early-season momentum failed to carry forward: through 18 games, the Canadiens' four centres scored only eight goals, four of which were from Suzuki. By midseason, Suzuki had 18 points in 28 games and was on an eight-game scoring drought. At the NHL trading deadline, Bergevin acquired veteran Eric Staal to act as a mentor for Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, both of whom were struggling with consistency. Suzuki also benefited from the late-season addition of Cole Caufield, who joined the Canadiens after finishing his collegiate career with the Wisconsin Badgers. After Caufield set up Suzuki's game-tying goal against the Edmonton Oilers on May 12, the latter told reporters that the "chemistry is there" between them. Collectively, Suzuki finished the regular season with 15 goals and 41 points in 56 games played.

International play

Prior to his major junior career, Suzuki was a member of Team Ontario at the 2015 Canada Winter Games, winning a gold medal. Thereafter, he was one of three members of the Owen Sound Attack invited by Hockey Canada to participate in the 2015 World U-17 Hockey Challenge. Capturing gold as part of Canada White, Suzuki recorded one goal and four points across six tournament games. The following year, he was named to Canada under-18 team for the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. Collecting one goal and three points in four games played, Canada ultimately finished the tournament in fifth place.

As a member of Canada junior team, Suzuki participated in the 2019 World Junior Championships. He provided three assists in five games, whereas his country was eliminated following a 2–1 quarterfinal loss to Finland, marking the first time in history that Canada had hosted the tournament and not reached the medal rounds.

During the 2025–26 season, Suzuki was named to Canada senior team for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Suzuki scored a goal in Canada's opening victory against Czechia in the group stage, but admitted to finding aspects of his use as a winger to be a difficult adjustment. His performance in the group stage generated criticism. In the tournament quarterfinal rematch with Czechia, he scored a crucial game-tying goal with minutes left in regulation time, allowing Canada to avoid elimination. Canada was ultimately defeated by the United States in the final, earning the silver medal.

Personal life

Suzuki's younger brother Ryan also plays professional hockey. He was selected in the first round, 28th overall, by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2019 NHL entry draft. The siblings are related to David Suzuki, a geneticist and television presenter, who is a first cousin of their grandfather.

Of Japanese Canadian heritage, Suzuki is one-quarter Japanese and is considered Gosei, as his great-great-grandparents immigrated to Canada in the early 1900s. He has expressed his desire to become a role model for younger Japanese and other Asian hockey players. He is also of Scottish Canadian descent on his mother's side.

Upon being named Canadiens captain in September 2022, several prominent politicians in Quebec, including Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) Premier François Legault and Parti libéral du Québec (PLQ) leader Dominique Anglade, urged Suzuki to learn French as a way to connect with the Montreal fanbase. Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby also privately advised him that he should do so, citing his own experience while playing in the QMJHL with the Rimouski Océanic. Suzuki told reporters that he had been taking online classes during the summer months as well as French in school growing up, but acknowledged he was better at reading the language than speaking it. In 2023, he appeared in a Pepsi commercial speaking French in which his pronunciation was praised.

During the 2016–17 OHL season, Suzuki began dating fellow Londoner Caitlin Fitzgerald after the two connected on social media while he was living in Owen Sound. On April 24, 2024, the couple announced their engagement. They eloped as part of a private ceremony held in Turks and Caicos a year later. Their daughter Maya was born on April 15, 2026.

Career statistics