Player Discussion Cole Caufield - Part 13

[Deebs]

I have to say I'd be a bit disappointed with 35 goals this year. That might be irrational since 35 is pretty awesome, but still...a bit disappointed.

Yeah, I hate 35 goal scorers lol

 

[Doc5]

...Cole is at least somewhat established as a goal scorer in the League already...magic beans in the draft aren't...that's a rrrreeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaallllllllllyyyy bad idea...

Agreed, but it also gives the team a shot at possibly acquiring a #1 C and #1D from the same draft. You can’t pass on that opportunity rather easily imo.

 

[Tyson]

Armchair GM here lol

Aren't we all?

 

[OldCraig71]

If he scores 40+ it's a win for everyone but I would hate to see that expectation placed on him and we all know what that can do to a young player in the Montreal market.

 

[schwang26]

I have to say I'd be a bit disappointed with 35 goals this year. That might be irrational since 35 is pretty awesome, but still...a bit disappointed.

He's still a little guy on a lottery team. People expecting all those goals might be disappointed. Montreal is still missing a LOT of pieces and Caulfield/Suzuki can't do it all. We thought the PP was bad last season? Wait till they move Petry and your number one PP guy is Wideman!
Caulfield can and probably will produce when the team is better. Next year, I think 30 is reasonable (which is still great on a bad team). This team will struggle again and will be a lottery team next year. They have holes they can't fill, they will have injuries and still lack depth to effectively cover for those injuries (except maybe on D and in net)

 

[KevSkillz4]

This guy is a PPG player, no doubt about that... look at that... that's incredible even if it's just Arizona::

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

Agreed, but it also gives the team a shot at possibly acquiring a #1 C and #1D from the same draft. You can’t pass on that opportunity rather easily imo.

...and lose possibly our best goal scorer since Richer...no thanks, we can move other assets this year or next if we want to draft a possible #1D...

 

[NotProkofievian]

This guy is a PPG player, no doubt about that... look at that... that's incredible even if it's just Arizona::

With Cole, people were talking themselves out of picking him. His goal scoring has never not been elite, and hadn't ever been anything but elite at the time of the draft, going all the way back as far as we have records. He had the goal scoring record at the Brick Invitational last time I checked, for example.

Scouting is tough, but sometimes you really do just need to look at one number.

 

[Belial]

He's still a little guy on a lottery team. People expecting all those goals might be disappointed. Montreal is still missing a LOT of pieces and Caulfield/Suzuki can't do it all. We thought the PP was bad last season? Wait till they move Petry and your number one PP guy is Wideman!
Caulfield can and probably will produce when the team is better. Next year, I think 30 is reasonable (which is still great on a bad team). This team will struggle again and will be a lottery team next year. They have holes they can't fill, they will have injuries and still lack depth to effectively cover for those injuries (except maybe on D and in net)

Wideman got 12 PPP while Petry got 3 last season.

Petry was atrocious.

 

[Canadienna]

It's important to remember how we all felt about him mid season last year. Half the board was calling for him to be sent down and he was pacing for 2 goals over 82 games.

We can blame Ducharme for most of it, but he also might just be a really streaky player (most goalscorers are).

He's dynamic and has genuinely elite tools, but what I really want to see this season is whether he can carry a 30-40 goal pace over a full season. I don't think it's a given.

 

[Habs13]

Lets not forget WHY Caufield wasn't putting up numbers early last year - his coach didn't trust him, and had him playing minor minutes in a checking role! Smallest guy on the ice, playing a checking role! Something he has NEVER had to do at any other point in his hockey career! 4th line, 8 minutes a game...

St. Louis came in, and the first thing he did was build Caufield's confidence back up and bam! PPG tear the rest of the way. He'll never be on a 4th line or in a checking role again.

 

[Belial]

Lets not forget WHY Caufield wasn't putting up numbers early last year - his coach didn't trust him, and had him playing minor minutes in a checking role! Smallest guy on the ice, playing a checking role! Something he has NEVER had to do at any other point in his hockey career! 4th line, 8 minutes a game...

St. Louis came in, and the first thing he did was build Caufield's confidence back up and bam! PPG tear the rest of the way. He'll never be on a 4th line or in a checking role again.

That's total BS!

He didn't have one game under 10 minutes of TOI the entire season!

Only 4 games under 13 minutes of TOI.

I mean Ducharme lost the room and might not be the best coach out there but let's not reinvent history.

He never used Caufield in a checking role!

 

[Price is Wright]

It's important to remember how we all felt about him mid season last year. Half the board was calling for him to be sent down and he was pacing for 2 goals over 82 games.

We can blame Ducharme for most of it, but he also might just be a really streaky player (most goalscorers are).

The difference in his confidence on the ice was night and day. He was rebounding from being on the ice when a goal was scored better. Didn't look lost. Carried the puck in the offensive zone with some mox. Whatever was going on, Ducharme couldn't get his game back and Martin St. Louis could.

He also wasn't the only player on the Canadiens to have a second half resurgence in their stats.

 

[Merci Saku]

The difference in his confidence on the ice was night and day. He was rebounding from being on the ice when a goal was scored better. Didn't look lost. Carried the puck in the offensive zone with some mox. Whatever was going on, Ducharme couldn't get his game back and Martin St. Louis could.

He also wasn't the only player on the Canadiens to have a second half resurgence in their stats.

Exact,

Ducharme was too stubborn and stick with his system that didn’t work at all this year

 

[schwang26]

Wideman got 12 PPP while Petry got 3 last season.

Petry was atrocious.

Agreed. However, he did improve in the second half and statistically speaking, Petry is by far the better D. Which is why Petry is in demand and Wideman is not.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

If he scores 40-50 it would be amazing, maybe he can but I will stay conservative with my prediction and go with 30-35 goals which would be really good.

He’ll be a 50 goal guy. Maybe not this year but soon

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

It's important to remember how we all felt about him mid season last year. Half the board was calling for him to be sent down and he was pacing for 2 goals over 82 games.

We can blame Ducharme for most of it, but he also might just be a really streaky player (most goalscorers are).

He's dynamic and has genuinely elite tools, but what I really want to see this season is whether he can carry a 30-40 goal pace over a full season. I don't think it's a given.

He wasn’t streaky in the minors. And he was pretty consistent under MSL.

Yes, it was the coach. He was being played in 3rd line minutes. Of course he wasn’t going to produce. It’s the Therrien playbook.

 

[Belial]

He wasn’t streaky in the minors. And he was pretty consistent under MSL.

Yes, it was the coach. He was being played in 3rd line minutes. Of course he wasn’t going to produce. It’s the Therrien playbook.

He was not but whatever.

Your obsession to always blame everything on coaches and absolve players is legendary!

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

He was not but whatever.

Your obsession to always blame everything on coaches and absolve players is legendary!

He averaged four minutes more per game under MSL. He was promoted to the top line.

Do you think we can’t verify this stuff?

 

[Belial]

He averaged four minutes more per game under MSL. He was promoted to the top line.

Do you think we can’t verify this stuff?

He was playing with Suzy under Ducharme also! Give me a break man

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

He was playing with Suzy under Ducharme also! Give me a break man

Weird that they were on the same line when Suzuki averaged FIVE more minutes per game.

Give it up.

 

[Belial]

Weird that they were on the same line when Suzuki averaged FIVE more minutes per game.

Give it up.

Suzy kills penalties and he's the best forward on this team FFS! It's normal he gets more minutes than a rookie!

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Suzy kills penalties and he's the best forward on this team FFS! It's normal he gets more minutes than a rookie!

That explains the two minutes that separated them under MSL. It doesn’t explain the five under Ducharme.

14 minutes per game vs 18 and he played with better linemates. Of course he was more productive.

 

[Heffyhoof]

I understand the idea of trading Caufield, it's been many a time a young player has outstanding showings in smaller samples only to regress to average norms.

That said, Caufield, even if we draft Wright, is Montreal's only potential serious offensive threat. Suzuki and Wright will be gamers that perform to 1C standards, but both lack the dynamism that Caufield has shown and promises to continue to provide.

I still think Montreal could use another dynamic winger to pair with Wright, so Caufield shouldn't be traded for anything but that, and then why would you unless the player was nearly as young and currently better?

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I understand the idea of trading Caufield, it's been many a time a young player has outstanding showings in smaller samples only to regress to average norms.

That said, Caufield, even if we draft Wright, is Montreal's only potential serious offensive threat. Suzuki and Wright will be gamers that perform to 1C standards, but both lack the dynamism that Caufield has shown and promises to continue to provide.

I still think Montreal could use another dynamic winger to pair with Wright, so Caufield shouldn't be traded for anything but that, and then why would you unless the player was nearly as young and currently better?

He’s untouchable in my view.