Canadiens’ Cole Caufield tracking for first career 50-goal season
The Montreal Canadiens, after years of accruing enticing young talent, have finally arrived as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
Their impressive young core of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Lane Hutson and more give them as good a nucleus as any in the league, and the growth they’ve shown this year makes it seem like they’re ready to make noise in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
With a lot still to play for, it’s been a massive season for Caufield, who is second in the NHL in goals scored and just needs three in the final eight games to reach the 50-goal mark for the first time in his career.
On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed what has allowed Caufield to take a major leap this season as he pushes for the Rocket Richard.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Speaking of scoring 50, like I said, McDavid needs a goal per game in his final seven to get there. Cole Caufield only needs three goals in the final eight games. He feels like a lock to get to 50 this year.
Carter Hutton: Yeah, it does. It seems like that… He is just showing what you can do at five-on-five play. Whatever it is, this guy finds way to score. He’s undersized, and the hardest thing to do in the NHL score goals. This guy can do it every which way, and it’s been a lot of fun to watch, and this is a dangerous team. You win the other night in Tampa, that’s got to be a big string of confidence for this group. And I think for Cole Caufield right now, the best thing is just to continue to play and keep grinding forward, not to get caught up on 50, because we have seen that before, right? You’ve got to be strategic here, because Montreal is in a very, very good place come playoff time here.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Montreal, eight games to go, two points back of the Tampa Bay Lightning for potentially having home ice advantage in round one. If you’re Montreal and, you know, you think of the aura and the atmosphere in the Bell Centre, like that’s a legit boost, and you know that series is going to go deep. You want any potential game seven against the Lightning to be in your barn. So you’re right, they have a ton to play for. And it’s not just garbage time and getting Caufield the 50. They’ve won six in a row, by the way, and take on the New York Rangers tonight.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…