Cole Caufield: Is this the year?

[Lafleurs Guy]

pace doesn’t matter if he never gets there

He scored 48 in his first 82 with MSL. Those are actual goals vs games played.

Yeah so if he plays 1 game in a season and scores 4 goals he’s a 300 goal guy

Paying $8M for a guy who has the ability to score 50 but can’t manage 30 would not make much sense imo

If it was only four games you’d have a case.

But it was 48 over 82.

How many goals did he score in those two seasons?

Honest question, I don't follow the Habs or hockey much.

48 in 82 under MSL. Check the game logs on Hockey Reference.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I think it shows how streaky he could get, which is normal for young goal scorers. With the cap raising, it's not a problem to pay Cole 7.8M even if he's more a 35 goal player.

I actually don’t think so. He’s been ultra consistent until that stretch where he was shooting below 7 percent. And all of his underlying stats were better than ever. I think it was just a blip.

We’ll see though, he’s still very early into his career. Let’s see how he finishes the season.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

He scored 48 in his first 82 with MSL. Those are actual goals vs games played.


If it was only four games you’d have a case.

But it was 48 over 82.

He scored 48 over two seasons

Good one bud but 26 goals in 48 games isn’t 4 in 1 game is it

it isn’t 30 either lmfao

 

[GoodKiwi]

48 in 82 under MSL. Check the game logs on Hockey Reference.

Thanks.

This is just my opinion, but combining parts of seasons is not very telling, especially when talking streaky goal scorers. It's possible those two chunks of games fell under Caufield's "hot streak" category.

Personally, I only look at entirety of seasons' when evaluating players' performances. Just feels more meaningful to me, in terms of gauging said player's impact on team's place in the standings.

When it comes to Caufield, I'm one of those who needs to see more before making any proclamations.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

He scored 48 over two seasons

And?

They were his first 82 games under MSL. He was a raw rookie. We’re talking about a player who has 160 career games. There’s not a large body of work to look at.

If we were talking about a vet, you’d have a point but not here.

The guy has more goals per game than any player in the league 23 and under.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Thanks.

This is just my opinion, but combining parts of seasons is not very telling, especially when talking streaky goal scorers. It's possible those two chunks of games fell under Caufield's "hot streak" category.

Personally, I only look at entirety of seasons' when evaluating players' performances. Just feels more meaningful to me, in terms of gauging said player's impact on team's place in the standings.

When it comes to Caufield, I'm one of those who needs to see more before making any proclamations.

If we were talking about a vet with many seasons I’d agree with you. But this is a special case. He has a limited resume because he hasn’t been in the league long.

82 over his first 48 with MSL is not a hot streak. It’s a large enough sample size to show that he has elite potential. And even when he wasn’t scoring this year his underlying numbers were really good. He might even hit forty despite that disastrous start.

The only time he’s played poorly for an extended period of time was when he was being used in the bottom six by DD. Wasted about 30-40 games there. Once MSL took over CC scored at close to a 50 goal pace from game one.

No need to make a proclamation on your side. But I will say that I think he’s a future 50+ goal guy. If I’m wrong so be it. But that’s what I think he is.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

And?

They were his first 82 games under MSL. He was a raw rookie. We’re talking about a player who has 160 career games. There’s not a large body of work to look at.

If we were talking about a vet, you’d have a point but not here.

The guy has more goals per game than any player in the league 23 and under.

Yeah… it’s clear that you value pace over actual results so I don’t really have anything else to say

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Yeah… it’s clear that you value pace over actual results

Wrong.

48 goals in 82 games are actual results, not pace. Stop trying to say it isn’t. Those goals aren’t theoretical, it’s what he actually did.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Yeah… it’s clear that you value pace over actual results so I don’t really have anything else to say

Actual results

Did he, or did he not, score 48 goals over an 82 game period.

No lawyering.

Actual results.

Did he or did he not.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Actual results

Did he, or did he not, score 48 goals over an 82 game period.

No lawyering.

Actual results.

Did he or did he not.

He scored 23 goals one season and 26 the next

Wrong.

48 goals in 82 games are actual results, not pace. Stop trying to say it isn’t. Those goals aren’t theoretical, it’s what he actually did.

so if we’re not using pace he is not a 30 goal scorer

 

[WeThreeKings]

He scored 23 goals one season and 26 the next


so if we’re not using pace he is not a 30 goal scorer

Yeah so you're not interested in being honest about it.

Moving on.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Yeah so you're not interested in being honest about it.

Moving on.

What I said could not possibly be more objectively true lmao

 

[admiralcadillac]

He scored 23 goals one season and 26 the next


so if we’re not using pace he is not a 30 goal scorer

You’re too proud to admit it but it’s a hill you’ve chosen to die on.

He was four goals away from thirty last year and had 34 games to score the four needed to get there.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

You’re too proud to admit it but it’s a hill you’ve chosen to die on.

He was four goals away from thirty. last year and had 34 games to score the four needed to get there.

Idk why it’s so hard to just say he has potential to be a 30+ goal guy. I would agree entirely with that.

But but can’t just say he is a consistent 30 goal scorer if he has never once scored 30

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

He scored 23 goals one season and 26 the next

He scored 48 in 82.

Not theoretical. Not “pacing for”… actual goals. His first 82 under MSL. A raw rookie and he blows the doors off.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Idk why it’s so hard to just say he has potential to be a 30+ goal guy. I would agree entirely with that.

But but can’t just say he is a consistent 30 goal scorer if he has never once scored 30

He’s not a consistent anything yet! He’s played 160 games man. And they’re spread over three seasons. How do you not understand this?

We’re not arguing that he should’ve won a Richard.

 

[Redux91]

Idk why it’s so hard to just say he has potential to be a 30+ goal guy. I would agree entirely with that.

But but can’t just say he is a consistent 30 goal scorer if he has never once scored 30

So you believe he would have scored 0 goals in the last 34 games last year had he played?
(Not a 0% chance either i'll grant you that sure)

But you're not being sensible if you're stuck on the didn't hit 30 goals in 1 full season period hill

I also get a little peeved at 'pace talk' , woulda done this, woulda done that, I totally get you there
BUT, with large enough sample sizes , pace can be used
BUT, again, 34 more games you don't think he gets to 30+? Cool that's fine
You've got your principals

But he didn't hit 30 goals because 'he doesn't have it in him'. He didn't score 30 because he had a lingering shoulder injury that needed surgery..

Now you CAN knock him for that too and be like 'too bad! Stay healthy!' And again I'd say you have your principals.
The best ability is availability. I get it.
But using the injury excuse in your favor for the argument negates your claim of 'he isn't a 30 goal scorer'

When in the span of 82 STRAIGHT NHL games, DOESNT even MATTER it spanning 2 seasons, its NHL games, and you score 40+ NHL goals
You dont just didmiss that as nothing. You just cant.
And its not 1 season plucked from his career combined with his 11th season of his career to make some magic goal total number to shove in people's faces

He has played 120 games under MSL
He has scored 65 goals under MSL
That's 0.54 Gpg
Multiply by 82 games
That's 44.28..

And he's having a down year with an outlier low shooting % that afflicts goal scorers once in a while

So what do you want exactly?

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

What I said could not possibly be more objectively true lmao

We can get it even more objectively true…how many games did he play over those two seasons where he scored 48 goals?

 

[McGuires Corndog]

So, anyways…

Cole is back to being a threat in every game and it’s showing on the score sheet again. The emergence of Slaf on the trio has helped both Caufield and Suzuki become better players over the last 20 games or so. Keep in mind that outside of that line, the only player that’s an offensive threat in any capacity is Sean Monahan, who while having a real nice bounce back season is still just a shell of his past prime.

Wait until next year and Dach is back and we have two lines that can be effective, Caufield will score that 40.

I’m not worried.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

So you believe he would have scored 0 goals in the last 34 games last year had he played?
(Not a 0% chance either i'll grant you that sure)

But you're not being sensible if you're stuck on the didn't hit 30 goals in 1 full season period hill

I also get a little peeved at 'pace talk' , woulda done this, woulda done that, I totally get you there
BUT, with large enough sample sizes , pace can be used
BUT, again, 34 more games you don't think he gets to 30+? Cool that's fine
You've got your principals

But he didn't hit 30 goals because 'he doesn't have it in him'. He didn't score 30 because he had a lingering shoulder injury that needed surgery..

Now you CAN knock him for that too and be like 'too bad! Stay healthy!' And again I'd say you have your principals.
The best ability is availability. I get it.
But using the injury excuse in your favor for the argument negates your claim of 'he isn't a 30 goal scorer'

When in the span of 82 STRAIGHT NHL games, DOESNT even MATTER it spanning 2 seasons, its NHL games, and you score 40+ NHL goals
You dont just didmiss that as nothing. You just cant.
And its not 1 season plucked from his career combined with his 11th season of his career to make some magic goal total number to shove in people's faces

He has played 120 games under MSL
He has scored 65 goals under MSL
That's 0.54 Gpg
Multiply by 82 games
That's 44.28..

And he's having a down year with an outlier low shooting % that afflicts goal scorers once in a while

So what do you want exactly?

Strawman
I think he is a potential 40+ guy, I just took issues with the statement that he has scored 30
Pretty simple

We can get it even more objectively true…how many games did he play over those two seasons where he scored 48 goals?

He’s not a consistent anything yet! He’s played 160 games man. And they’re spread over three seasons. How do you not understand this?

We’re not arguing that he should’ve won a Richard.

I agree with this 100% and I didn’t say he is a consistent anything, quite the opposite

 

[Ozmodiar]

This is just my opinion, but combining parts of seasons is not very telling, especially when talking streaky goal scorers. It's possible those two chunks of games fell under Caufield's "hot streak" category.

Nobody really cares about combining seasons to arrive at a total. Either you’ve done it in a season or have not. Matthews, Kooch, Pasta, rantanen, etc … you’ll never hear anything like “if you add this and that …”. lol

It’s the difference between proven and potential.

OTOH … those who said he wasn’t worthy of 8M or 1st line duties are pretty quiet rn.

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

Strawman
I think he is a potential 40+ guy, I just took issues with the statement that he has scored 30
Pretty simple

Was it 160 games? Was it 45 games?

No one ever cites two seasons as just two seasons unless they played 70+ games each seasons.

If both those seasons add up to only one whole season worth of games then unless you’re trying to disingenuously prove some kind of point, you’re going to mention that. You don’t childishly ignore that fact. lol.

So if he hits 40-50 goals in a season are you truly gonna be slack jawed with awe?

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

Nobody really cares about combining seasons to arrive at a total. Either you’ve done it in a season or have not. Matthews, Kooch, Pasta, rantanen, etc … you’ll never hear anything like “if you add this and that …”. lol

It’s the difference between proven and potential.

OTOH … those who said he wasn’t worthy of 8M or 1st line duties are pretty quiet rn.

At the end of someone’s career and you look at a player’s point totals, do they include games played or seasons played in that stat line?

Why are we acting like actually mentioning games played along with stats is some kind of sophistry? lol.

So bizarre

 

[The Great Weal]

Scoring 30 goals in a down year would be great. Hopefully, he can score 40 next season. I think you're way too optimistic if you think he can score 50 a season every year for most of his career.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Was it 160 games? Was it 45 games?

No one ever cites two seasons as just two seasons unless they played 70+ games each seasons.

If both those seasons add up to only one whole season worth of games then unless you’re trying to disingenuously prove some kind of point, you’re going to mention that. You don’t childishly ignore that fact. lol.

So if he hits 40-50 goals in a season are you truly gonna be slack jawed with awe?

Yes, as we all will considering we haven’t seen it in 4 decades