Cole Caufield: Is this the year?

[StCaufield]

His playmaking development has made the first line more dynamic and less predictable. It’s not all about goals with him

 

[Gaud]

He had 1.5 seasons coming into last year. How else do you calculate it? 48 in 82 coming into last year. Half from his rookie year. All coming with the same coach. Incredible. And he did exactly what he was supposed to. 300 plus shots, coming from in close. Should’ve been a 50 goal year.

It’s moot now anyways. The ‘past performance’ works both ways. We can’t ignore the horrible shot percentage after surgery. Now we have to take a more skeptical view. So I think around 30 is a safe bet. Hopefully we see some improvement. If he hits 40 that’d be great.

Still massively disappointed though. We finally had a guy who seemed like a blue chip to contend for some Richards and we run into injuries at 22 years old. It sucks.

Not a medical expert, but from what i see, the type of shoulder injury he has takes a while but has a reasonable chance to return to normal. It just takes a little longer than a few weeks.

I do think that his shoulder is what has been holding his scoring production down, but i see it as a kind of blessing in a way; it pushed him to learn other skills than scoring in order to be relevant to the team. I saw him get better at passing and playmaking, and i suspect his work in the DZone is also better.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Not a medical expert, but from what i see, the type of shoulder injury he has takes a while but has a reasonable chance to return to normal. It just takes a little longer than a few weeks.

I do think that his shoulder is what has been holding his scoring production down, but i see it as a kind of blessing in a way; it pushed him to learn other skills than scoring in order to be relevant to the team. I saw him get better at passing and playmaking, and i suspect his work in the DZone is also better.

Yeah, he developed his game a lot this year. The shoulder injury might habe helped on that front and he’s also still really young and his game is maturing.

Next year will be interesting. Hopefully we see some progress on his shoulder.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Hughes on Torey Mitchell's podcast said they know Cole can score and started getting back to it. It was a combination of shoulder surgery and an active dedication to being a better defensive player.

 

[Heffyhoof]

I love me some Cole Caufield and will happily admit I was one of the overly optimistic posters who voted 50+. That said, after his current play, this coming year had better be the year or I'd be looking at shipping him out ASAP.

I know he had surgery, but using that as an excuse for an entire season of meh play where he was the clear passenger on his line doesn't jive. God forbid Caufield win a board battle or do anything useful outside of passing and being a shooting option for his two far superior and hard-working linemates. He has it in him to be a dominant force but I've started to lose all patience for players who could be amazing if they just put in the full effort.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I love me some Cole Caufield and will happily admit I was one of the overly optimistic posters who voted 50+. That said, after his current play, this coming year had better be the year or I'd be looking at shipping him out ASAP.

I know he had surgery, but using that as an excuse for an entire season of meh play where he was the clear passenger on his line doesn't jive. God forbid Caufield win a board battle or do anything useful outside of passing and being a shooting option for his two far superior and hard-working linemates. He has it in him to be a dominant force but I've started to lose all patience for players who could be amazing if they just put in the full effort.

It wasn't 'meh' play. It was a 300 plus shot season that ordinarily would've resulted in 50 goals. Doctors say three years to return to normal. Expect 30 something goals next year and it SHOULD go up from there down the road.