if you read the OP, its a 21 games sample size dating back to last season. And before that he had 26 in 46 two seasons ago. And before that he broke the goalscoring record in NCAA.
Of course he has more to prove, but this is about projecting. Every 40 goal scorer had to score 40 for the first time at some point.
Look at say, Pastrnak's progression. Took him 6 years to hit 40!
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And in the 19 games before that he had 1 goal.
1 goal on 71 shots in 19 games
18 goals on 75 shots in 21 games
Do you think he massively changed on 1 day? no. Sometimes you get good shooting luck. Sometimes bad.
Pasta didn't become a 40 goal scorer by magically doubling his shooting%.
Pasta's big increase in 16-17 into a was mostly fueled by 2 things. He got placed on PP1, and he was moved up to the top line.
That alone added 10-15 goals a year to his total. This is not an improvement caufield will see, since he has gotten PP1 time his whole career.
Outside of the PP, here is pasta EV. If you notice, his shooting% didn't all of a sudden spike to 25% to make him a top goal scorer. He generated more chances.
Additionally, he was moved up the lineup and given more ice time. Again, not something you will see for caufield considering he has been given this top ice time for the last.
You can hope to ride a shooting heater if you want. But if caufield wants to become an consistently elite scorer, he needs to figure out how to generate more chances. He was doing very well in 23-24 for chance generation. But this year has been the wrong way for that so far.
And if he wants to become an elite player, he needs to figure out how to not give up a ridiculous amount of chances the other way