UNDATED (AP) — The Montreal Canadiens have signed center Nick Suzuki to an eight-year, $63 million contract extension. The deal will pay Suzuki an average annual salary of $7.875 million.
The 22-year-old led the Canadiens in playoff scoring last season with 16 points on seven goals and nine assists in 22 games to help the team reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1993.
Suzuki had 15 goals and 41 points in 56 regular-season games.
In other NHL news:
— Avalanche star Nathan McKinnon will miss the season opener against the Blackhawks on Wednesday night after testing positive for a breakthrough infection of COVID-19. Colorado general manager Joe Sakic said Tuesday that MacKinnon’s positive test surfaced Monday and that the center is “asymptomatic and feeling good.”
— The Wild have placed rookie left wing Matt Boldy on the injured non-roster list with a broken ankle. Boldy as hurt in a preseason game last week to spoil a strong training camp for the first-round pick in the 2019 draft. He’s expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks.
— Alex Ovechkin is questionable to play in the Capitals season opener against the Rangers on Wednesday. Ovechkin took part in an optional practice Tuesday after skating several laps around the ice to test out his unspecified lower-body injury. The 36-year-old Russian star is listed as day to day.
— NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the league had only four unvaccinated players as it opened the 2021-22 season. Bettman said NHL officials and all the personnel that come into contact with the players are vaccinated.
