Player Discussion Cole Caufield - Part 12

[Andy]

He's one of the main victims of playing on team with no transition game.

Talented players should be able to produce no matter how bad the surrounding players are

 

[Schwang]

I think he'll be going to

Rookie has a slow start oh know, if he finishes 25 goals and 45 points that's a good rookie season. Even if it's 20 goals that's still good and means he likely becomes a 30+ goal guy in his prime

I think he'll be going to Laval soon to be honest.

 

[Whitesnake]

NHL is a development league when....the surroundings are proper to be developed in. The NHL is NOT a development league when the said NHL team doesn't have leadership and/or is a crappy team to play in. The NHL is NOT a great development league when you are asked to save a team and you are not equipped to do so.

See Romanov.

 

[Habano]

The way he's being misused, expect him to suffer the same fate as KK in a couple of years. The kid will sign the first offer sheet that comes his way and get the hell out of dodge.

 

[Habs4Life]

I'm fine with Caufield getting sheltered some, he is still playing with good players. Last year Toffoli was a 1st liner and Perrault was a 3rd liner. It's not like he is playing with plugs. The worst guy he is playing with was like a 15-15 guy last year and the other was 7th in total goals scored. Solid linemates for a rookie.

Perrault is a plug imho

 

[OldCraig71]

I compared him to Cammalleri and got scoffed at as if 294 goals in the NHL was no big deal lol.

 

[The Great Weal]

He flubs on a ridiculous amount of scoring chances as a skilled sniper.

 

[JuicyHam]

He flubs on a ridiculous amount of scoring chances as a skilled sniper.

It feels like he's panicking with the puck. These are the chances that immediately jumped off his stick in the NCAA and even at points in the playoffs. Nothing is going right for him

 

[417]

The idea that a trip to the AHL might boost his confidence could work.

Or it’s might do the opposite.

I still think we’re jumping the gun…if the of the team looked great and he was still struggling I’d get it.

But I expect the more seasoned players to carry him not the other way around.

 

[Naslundforever]

He flubs on a ridiculous amount of scoring chances as a skilled sniper.

Can’t catch a pass either. Needs seasoning in Laval to get confidence back and learn how to catch passes from adults.

I don’t see how he is misused by playing nhl hockey, the habs just don’t have centers or defensemen to get anyone the puck.

 

[Koivu11]

 

[Et le But]

He's looked worst than I expected so far this year but he was always going to struggle - even established snipers go through dry spells, defenses now know who he is, he's still a kid playing on an awful offense.

The expectations were unfair and this is the right thing to do. So far all the wrong lessons have been learned from last year's run

 

[Apoplectic Habs Fan]

If he comes back to MTL and the vets continue to be garbage, not much changes

Mtl needs some consistent vets that show the way. They have almost none. Asking Suzuki to carry the offense with little center depth behind him is asinine.

No forwards who win puck battles and do some dirty work for the smaller guys, another fail.

Caufield wasnt any worse then most but confidence in MTL has hit an all time low. Mtl just has no idea how to develop players, its indisputable

 

[JoelWarlord]

Talented players should be able to produce no matter how bad the surrounding players are

How many times are we going to run this exact same script?

He's a sniper playing with 3rd liners and Toffoli who seems to consider himself a sniper now too and is also trying to get lost in coverage. I am so tired of putting talented young players on the 3rd line to languish and then chastising them for being unable to produce with 3rd liners. They barely pass him the puck on the PP for the sake of endless braindead Petry slappers and he's supposed to just "produce no matter what?". This is just such a backwards way to handle player development.

 

[TannedBum]

Caufield wasnt any worse then most but confidence in MTL has hit an all time low. Mtl just has no idea how to develop players, its indisputable

Yeah, and your idea of how to develop a rookie is to double-shift him on EV and PP. It doesn't work like in a videogames.

 

[Apoplectic Habs Fan]

Yeah, and your idea of how to develop a rookie is to double-shift him on EV and PP. It doesn't work like in a videogames.

Wtf are you talking about?

 

[Canadienna]

I'll be happy to be wrong but I think this is a mistake.

If you're good enough for the NHL you belong in the NHL. Caufield is imo.

Everyone saying he can "get his confidence back", but what happens to his confidence if he doesn't light it up in Laval? Even if he does, it's still then not going to help his confidence coming back to the big leagues. He'll still have to build that confidence up in the NHL.

Just my 2c.

 

[Monsieur Miz]

Last season, when Toffoli played at the same time as Caufield, I was already thinking "why the f*** isn't Toffoli passing the puck to Caufield once in a while?"

And this season, Caufield is stuck with him. Is Ducharme seeing the same games as us? Toffoli is the worst linemate he could have and that's who he gets.

Literally set for failure.

 

[1909]

If he comes back to MTL and the vets continue to be garbage, not much changes

Mtl needs some consistent vets that show the way. They have almost none. Asking Suzuki to carry the offense with little center depth behind him is asinine.

No forwards who win puck battles and do some dirty work for the smaller guys, another fail.

Caufield wasnt any worse then most but confidence in MTL has hit an all time low. Mtl just has no idea how to develop players, its indisputable

Why Ducharme has not put together the Anderson-Suzuki-Caufield line like last Playoffs ?

 

[Miller Time]

Talented players should be able to produce no matter how bad the surrounding players are

In tennis? sure.

In team sports? not at all... outside of generational talents, the vast majority of "talented" players are highly affected by usage, linemates, confidence et.

Sam Bennett is a very good recent example of just how significant a change of setting can be... 27 pts in his past 22 NHL games with Florida... 9 pts in the previous 22 games in Calgary. Context matters. The crosby/ovechkin/mcD's of the world are the absolute exceptions, most other elite players absolutely do see their production impacted significantly by their surroundings.

Big difference lies in organizations that understand this, and those that don't.

 

[Hullois]

Honestly a good thing if only because it gets him away from this shitshow. Season will only get worse and media pressure on the team will increase, that's not a healthy environment for one of our most promising rookie.

 

[Paddy17]

The biggest problem in Montreal is the media. That's why management behaves the way they do, coaches make certain decisions, and why players lose confidence or don't develop properly.

In short, most of the folks in the media are just idiots when it comes to hockey.

 

[1909]

The biggest problem in Montreal is the media. That's why management behaves the way they do, coaches make certain decisions, and why players lose confidence or don't develop properly.

In short, most of the folks in the media are just idiots when it comes to hockey.

The management and coaching staffs are paid NOT to listen to media. They are very well paid to work and make their own decisions. They are the ones who really know what's up with players (injuries, personal problems, etc...).

The list of problems with this team is very long. But we should remember what was the line up two seasons ago, and what is is now.... So many changes. Lack of real good relief .

 

[Skip Bayless]

Talented players should be able to produce no matter how bad the surrounding players are

I agree with that, but It's not only a matter of the talent surrounding him in this case; The habs are not structured at all right now. It's not like he's the only forward having a hard time. The team is both bad at gaining possession and moving the puck up the ice efficiently. Caufield is not the type of player who's gonna skate the puck up the ice, deke or out speed 3 guys and score. He's not that player.

He's squandered some opportunities, the problem is there's no way to gain confidence back when the team plays so poorly collectively.

I'm glad he was sent down, Laval plays well and he can actually do what he does best down there.

 

[70Stang]

The way he fumbled the puck like we all observed almost seems like he has tinkered with his stick/curve. No idea but that should just be instinctive and natural for a natural goal scorer