Cole Caufield: Is this the year?

[Rapala]

That's why they should let him play his game, instead of making him forecheck and be near the boards, it prevents him on playing his usual game of finding the open space and jump in it to shoot.

His game probably isn't Marty's game.
Marty may even have a distaste for players hanging in the weeds.
He certainly didn't play that way.

 

[Rapala]

Cole is just happy when everyone scores lol.

Yeah he's genuine.

 

[Tyson]

Caufield with 52 points in 66 games is not a bad season. Yes I wish he had 35+ goals right now but now all is lost, his shots on goal are in abundance, his passing skills keep improving.
If he had 19 goals and 10 assists I would be concerned, not the case

 

[teamfirst]

Caufield with 52 points in 66 games is not a bad season. Yes I wish he had 35+ goals right now but now all is lost, his shots on goal are in abundance, his passing skills keep improving.
If he had 19 goals and 10 assists I would be concerned, not the case

Don't know why people should be worry about him, maybe their expections are too high.

Cole is as much a playmaker as a scorer reason why you have too look at points not only goals, i think he can be PPG in the future, looking at 30-40 goals per season, that's very good

 

[Tabarouette]

mirroring what I said in Suzuki's thread:
I don't think PPG (or at least edging very close to PPG) is "high expectations" for your best forwards in 2024's NHL.

 

[KevSkillz4]

After his injurie, that's a very good season from Caufield. On pace to put 60 pts ++ not bad at all.

Next year, I believe that he will put much more goals.

mirroring what I said in Suzuki's thread:
I don't think PPG (or at least edging very close to PPG) is "high expectations" for your best forwards in 2024's NHL.

PPG's season is still a really good 1st line player. I believe that Suzuki, Slaf, Caufield and Dach have all talent to put that type of numbers.

 

[Tabarouette]

After his injurie, that's a very good season from Caufield. On pace to put 60 pts ++ not bad at all.

Next year, I believe that he will put much more goals.



PPG's season is still a really good 1st line player. I believe that Suzuki, Slaf, Caufield and Dach have all talent to put that type of numbers.

It's actually just a regular, good 1st line player on any given average team

There's 20 teams with players at 0.98 PPG (arbitrary number close to 1) or higher, and many of them have multiple of them (cutting off at the top 40), so I just don't think it's that crazy of an expectation to feel like your top guys on your top line should be around that level

We don't have to settle for mediocrity when everyone else is having fun (and has been for 30+ years), this is a high scoring era and I would love to participate for once

TBL
COL
EDM
BOS
NYR
TOR
VAN
NJD
MIN
FLA
CAR
VGK
NYI
STL
NSH
PIT
DAL
WPG
DET
CHI

 

[BLNY]

I can't read through nearly 40 pages at this point lol.

Suffice to say we'd all like more goals. Goals are fun. His shooting percentage, like a number of players around the leauge, is way, way, down. From 2020-21 to 2022-23 he shot at 14% in 123 games. He's at 7.5% this year. It's common theme that the guys down on % are nearly halved. It's not for a lack of effort and quality chances. He's been snake bit almost as much as Anderson - who has hit more posts in a season than I can count.

The true positive is he hasn't let it drag his game down. Cole is on pace for a 65 point season. His play making and vision have taken a huge jump. One some didn't think possible. He's doing much better along the boards. He made a great play to force a turnover last night that lead to the lone goal against Boston.

A 20+ goal season as part of a 65 point campaign is nothing to complain about. As we develop more scoring threats, pressure will come off him. I also think he'll find his scoring touch after a break.

 

[KevSkillz4]

It's actually just a regular, good 1st line player on any given average team

There's 20 teams with players at 0.98 PPG (arbitrary number close to 1) or higher, and many of them have multiple of them (cutting off at the top 40), so I just don't think it's that crazy of an expectation to feel like your top guys on your top line should be around that level

We don't have to settle for mediocrity when everyone else is having fun (and has been for 30+ years), this is a high scoring era and I would love to participate for once

TBL
COL
EDM
BOS
NYR
TOR
VAN
NJD
MIN
FLA
CAR
VGK
NYI
STL
NSH
PIT
DAL
WPG
DET
CHI

I think with Lane Hutson on PP, that's going to help the production of Caufield, Suzuki, Slaf and Dach. I think we can have big hope for all these 4 forwards.

 

[Jabba11]

It's not his fault his scoring chances aren't translating into goals. Matheson and Suzuki for most of the season were way too predictable looking for Cole. Never gave him a true opportunities. Montreal's PP sucks and way too predictable. Best plays are the ones that aren't easily read aka Slaf's passing. Matheson is a big reason IMO that Cole doesn't have 30 goals right now. Overall, his season is only disappointing on the scoring department but overall, he's been contributing and progressing well.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

mirroring what I said in Suzuki's thread:
I don't think PPG (or at least edging very close to PPG) is "high expectations" for your best forwards in 2024's NHL.

It’s not. But I’d sacrifice some assists for a 50 goal guy. Goals are the most valuable commodity a skater can offer.

I still believe that CC is an elite goalscoring talent. But I expected him to really prove it this year. Maybe the shoulder injury contributed… I don’t know. But with the shots he has you’d think he’d get some dumb luck for a couple of goals but it’s been nothing but snake venom.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I can't read through nearly 40 pages at this point lol.

Suffice to say we'd all like more goals. Goals are fun. His shooting percentage, like a number of players around the leauge, is way, way, down. From 2020-21 to 2022-23 he shot at 14% in 123 games. He's at 7.5% this year. It's common theme that the guys down on % are nearly halved. It's not for a lack of effort and quality chances. He's been snake bit almost as much as Anderson - who has hit more posts in a season than I can count.

The true positive is he hasn't let it drag his game down. Cole is on pace for a 65 point season. His play making and vision have taken a huge jump. One some didn't think possible. He's doing much better along the boards. He made a great play to force a turnover last night that lead to the lone goal against Boston.

A 20+ goal season as part of a 65 point campaign is nothing to complain about. As we develop more scoring threats, pressure will come off him. I also think he'll find his scoring touch after a break.

It’s really not common. Of the top twenty shooters only Tavares and OV are down in the doldrums like this.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Don't know why people should be worry about him, maybe their expections are too high.

Maybe if you’re looking for 50 goals… but honestly man with the shots he has he should be at least pacing for over thirty. It’s not expectations, it’s math.

Cole is as much a playmaker as a scorer reason why you have too look at points not only goals, i think he can be PPG in the future, looking at 30-40 goals per season, that's very good

The assists are nice. The goals are what set him apart and give him real value.

 

[HabzSauce]

That's why they should let him play his game, instead of making him forecheck and be near the boards, it prevents him on playing his usual game of finding the open space and jump in it to shoot.

Another way of looking at it is he's developing as a better overall player. MSL not wanting him to be a one dimension guy.

Something is seriously up with his shot tho. I imagine his shoulder. He should be able to fix that with a good off season. It had more velocity and accuracy it before his injury.

 

[SlafySZN]

Another way of looking at it is he's developing as a better overall player. MSL not wanting him to be a one dimension guy.

Something is seriously up with his shot tho. I imagine his shoulder. He should be able to fix that with a good off season. It had more velocity and accuracy it before his injury.

Ah yeah of course, he’ll have time to get his shot back with training this summer.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Maybe if you’re looking for 50 goals… but honestly man with the shots he has he should be at least pacing for over thirty. It’s not expectations, it’s math.

The assists are nice. The goals are what set him apart and give him real value.

This is the first time in his career in any league he’s had more assists then goals. He’s a pure goalscorer so It is a little worrisome his goal totals aren’t higher. But it could be a blip on the radar.

 

[Canadiens98]

Not concerned about Cole at all.


Shooting at a career worst shooting %, and it isn't close either. Plenty of evidence to suggest this is just an outlier rather than the new norm. He's getting his chances, the puck just isn't finding its way in at the moment.

His play-making ability has clearly taken a step this year, and I think this will benefit him going forward as a goal scorer. He's clearly seeing the ice much better this year, and dmen will now have to not only worry about his shot, but making sure there isn't someone else (like Suzuki or Slaf) in a better position which could/should give him half a second more to get his release off.

A big concern I had was whether or not he'd be able to play a full season, especially after last year, but he's played literally every game so far (averaging almost 19:30 TOI as well).



You could make the argument his off-year in terms of shooting is actually helping our draft position and will benefit us long-term .

 

[Habs]

I think with Lane Hutson on PP, that's going to help the production of Caufield, Suzuki, Slaf and Dach. I think we can have big hope for all these 4 forwards.

Smurf Hutson isn't taking anyone off the PP anytime soon sir!

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

This is the first time in his career in any league he’s had more assists then goals. He’s a pure goalscorer so It is a little worrisome his goal totals aren’t higher. But it could be a blip on the radar.

I think it will be a blip. I think he’ll bounce back next season.

But it is crappy that this season get ‘ruined’ with that stupid shooting percentage. It should’ve been a great year.

 

[BLNY]

It’s really not common. Of the top twenty shooters only Tavares and OV are down in the doldrums like this.

1. "top 20 shooters" is cherry-picking.
2. I never said it was common or normal to drop like that. Ovi has shot less than 9% only twice in his career. This year and 10-11. I just stated that, looking at a number of players around the league recently, their shooting percentage is far below what it has been. Are multiple players having blip years? Statistical outliers? Or, is it the start of a trend?

You can be glass half empty if you want. I'm going to say that on a team with one natural shooter, he hasn't let being the opposition's focal point discourage him. He's used it and developed other parts of his game and made his line mates better.

 

[WeThreeKings]

They haven't really been able to set up his one timer and a lot of the times he doesn't take it, so that's where I feel like the shoulder surgery comes into play.. I go back to Matthews, a lot of his signature goals weren't there last year, but they are back this year.

I, again, want to see him with Dach. Slaf and Suzuki have genuine chemistry, I don't think Caufield and Suzuki have genuine chemistry, they are just two good players playing on the same line. Dach's ability, reach, and playmaking would all lead to Caufield being the threat he was on the wing of Jack Hughes.

 

[Goalfield13]

I have actually been quite impressed with Caufield's ability to make plays. He isn't an elite playmaker, but he is pretty darn close. Other teams know he has an amazing shot, so his ability to use that to his advantage to make space for teammates and dish it off at the right times is pretty sweet. I don't really care how many goals he gets. He earns every point. Goal scorers get streaky and have down years, but Caufield continues to put up points when he isn't scoring.

 

[WatchfulElm]

I don't know if it’s been said already, but I think one of the reasons why he's not scoring as many goals is that the PP used to be all about him. The whole PP strategy was to give the puck to Cole so he can shoot.

Suddenly, there are other options. Slaf can shoot too. Suzuki is becoming a goal scorer too. And Matheson loves to shoot. And Monahan (now Newhook) are there for rebound or deflection. So Cole's getting less prime opportunities on the PP, but that makes our PP less predictable and more effective.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

1. "top 20 shooters" is cherry-picking.

No it isn't. It's taking the best shooters in the league and comparing them. Higher shot volume is associated with higher goals. It makes perfect sense to look at the top twenty shooters and compare them to get a relative comparison of where things stand. Caufield's numbers stick out like a sore thumb.

2. I never said it was common or normal to drop like that. Ovi has shot less than 9% only twice in his career. This year and 10-11. I just stated that, looking at a number of players around the league recently, their shooting percentage is far below what it has been. Are multiple players having blip years? Statistical outliers? Or, is it the start of a trend?

This is what you said:

"His shooting percentage, like a number of players around the leauge, is way, way, down. From 2020-21 to 2022-23 he shot at 14% in 123 games. He's at 7.5% this year. It's common theme that the guys down on % are nearly halved. "

And... no it's not normal or common. It happens. It's not unheard of. But a shooting percentage that low doesn't usually happen to top snipers. If might be cut in half if you have a crazy year but going from 16 to 7.5 (more than half) is really, really strange. That's a huge drop. And below 8 is horrific.

You can be glass half empty if you want. I'm going to say that on a team with one natural shooter, he hasn't let being the opposition's focal point discourage him. He's used it and developed other parts of his game and made his line mates better.

I don't disagree. But 19 goals at this point is disappointing. I'm sure Hughes is disappointed in it and so is Caufield. He's not being paid 8 mil to get assists.

 

[Miller Time]

I have actually been quite impressed with Caufield's ability to make plays. He isn't an elite playmaker, but he is pretty darn close. Other teams know he has an amazing shot, so his ability to use that to his advantage to make space for teammates and dish it off at the right times is pretty sweet. I don't really care how many goals he gets. He earns every point. Goal scorers get streaky and have down years, but Caufield continues to put up points when he isn't scoring.

I like that he's clearly getting much better at that... He's working hard on his overall game, setting himself up to be an even more versatile and impact player in his prime. I don't think many appreciate how common it is for players to coast or rest on their strengths once they make it to the pro's.

He's going to be a better overall player than people expected in his prime. MSL could not have been a better mentor and role model. Cole wants to be in that stratosphere, not just a one trick pony, and he's putting in the work to get there.