Cole Caufield turning into a legit superstar

[JustAHabFan]

He's a young star with the talent to be a superstar. The reason I think he'll get there is his dedication to improvement.

Watching him in his first season and a bit, it was clear that he wasn't the fastest guy on the ice. He's put in a tremendous amount of work since last year to not only improve his quickness but his overall speed. I don't know that he'll ever be top flight fast, but he's got the quickness not to make space for himself and close on guys when playing without the puck. He's also working on other elements of his game. He's developing a one-timer. It's not there yet, but it shows he wants to be a multi-dimensional scorer.

I was surprised about Caufield's speed this season. I thought he is faster now compared to last season. So he did skate faster this year.

 

[Sky04]

Ah yes Montreal fans and overrating their players, remember when Drouin was a #1 Center and Tampa was using him wrong or Nick Suzuki was guaranteed to be a PPG player in his second year because "just watch him".

 

[Zalos]

Coming from a Habs fan who watches every game, if he finishes the year with PPG and over 40 goals, I'd consider talking about this with a decent amount of seriousness. Until then, chill. Too many disappointments in the past. Stop putting so much expectation on kids.

 

[Contenderorpretender]

I'll just say in my personal opinion the term superstar is reserved for a select few that have achieved incredible stats and/or susuccessthere are lots of star players but few superstars. Not every team has one. Not knocking caufield, just personally would not say he's ascending superstar status.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Ah yes Montreal fans and overrating their players, remember when Drouin was a #1 Center and Tampa was using him wrong or Nick Suzuki was guaranteed to be a PPG player in his second year because "just watch him".

Lol way to bundle us all up in the same group very smart post

 

[Colezuki]

He'll be a 40G and PPG player as soon as this season, however you view that is what he is.

I think he's an elite 1st line goal scorer. But to me a superstar is someone like McD, Mackinnon, Crosby etc. I don't think he can get there but I could see him potentially be viewed in that tier below.

 

[Mrb1p]

I have to admit, he's very, very good...against my wishes.

He still is terrible defensively, but who cares when he's a legit top 5 threat league wide to beat a goalie clean with his shot.

Shades of Semin.

He isn't as bad defensively as he was last year. He's a very decent back checker now and he holds his own positionally. Of course, he's never going to be great or even above average due to the size but who cares when you have a guy this good offensively.

As sad as it sounds, he's been probably the best defensive winger on the team lol.

Caufield has a fantastic shot, but he's also a defensive liability.

He's not a liability anymore, Id say.

So... who coached the Canadiens in 20-21 when you guys were praising him after 10 regular season games and 20 playoff games?

Ducharme.

In spring 2021 when he came in after his NCAA season things were fine, breaking him in, I guess. he had a little under 20 shifts a game, which isn't high at all, but hey, rookie and under 10 games. Caufield showed he could play in the NHL. He was one of the Habs best players right off the bat.

Ducharme benched him for the first and second game to ice the corpse of Eric Staal. (He also benched famed PO heroic Jesperi Kotkaniemi.)

Theres also a rumour that Weber, Staal, Perry, Price pretty much cast out Ducharme during the POs and took over coaching duties, like Robinson and co did in 86.

Ah yes Montreal fans and overrating their players, remember when Drouin was a #1 Center and Tampa was using him wrong or Nick Suzuki was guaranteed to be a PPG player in his second year because "just watch him".

Drouin was never a 1C, do you have any evidence of this ? Hes been hated from pretty much day 1 of his Habs career. He is terrible.

Nick Suzuki has been PPG in his last 49 games, so that doesn't seem like much overrating.

 

[MXD]

Ah yes Montreal fans and overrating their players, remember when Drouin was a #1 Center and Tampa was using him wrong or Nick Suzuki was guaranteed to be a PPG player in his second year because "just watch him".

Please provide posts to support your claims.

 

[I Hate Philadelphia]

Unsustainable shooting percentage. Yawn.

 

[Baaaaaaaaaaaaah]

Cauf will be a Hall of Famer.

 

[Gillings]

Caufield has a fantastic shot, but he's also a defensive liability.

Liability because of his size, but I’ve seen him take the body good for a man his size, he will continue to grow defensively.

 

[Danarqhy]

GOAL Caufield is amazing, I'm actually surprised it took this long for this thread to pop up. He very well could be a PPG player throughout his prime, he makes stuff happen on the ice every time he touches it.

 

[Pi]

His on ice SH% is like 16% man. If he cracks 70 points this year, I'd be shocked.

 

[Lshap]

For those who mentioned Caufield's 'high' shooting %, his 16.7 SH% is the lowest among the current top-10 goal scorers. Of the top-30 scorers, Caufield's SH% is the 7th lowest.

If his shooting is due to regress, so is almost everyone else in the top tier.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Size was the only big concern about whether Caufield could become an impact nhl player or not and he's shown that its not an issue whatsoever.

So if you remove the size concern, then we're talking about the prospect with the best goalscoring track record before entering the nhl in a long time:

-Scored 54 goals in his d-2 year, which was only 1 less goal in 1 less game than the USDP record set by Matthews (55 goals)
-Scored 72 goals in his draft year, which obliterated the record. Also tied Ovechkin's u18 tournament goal record of 14 in 1 less game.
-Scored 30 goals in 31 NCAA games in his d+2 year, which was the most goals per game in a season since the 90s

Caufield becoming an elite player shouldn't surprise anyone.

 

[Weztex]

Caufield has a fantastic shot, but he's also a defensive liability.

He's not. He won't ever be a Selke caliber forward but he's noticeably better than last year in this area. He more and more finds ways to be involved in the play when the other team has possession. He's no Bob Gainey but he sure hasn't been a liability out there so far this season.

 

[MardyBum]

For those who mentioned Caufield's 'high' shooting %, his 16.7 SH% is the lowest among the current top-10 goal scorers. Of the top-30 scorers, Caufield's SH% is the 7th lowest.

If his shooting is due to regress, so is almost everyone else in the top tier.

I'd say his on ice shooting % is the ridiculous thing, and that will normalize.

 

[Riddum]

I love that you're true to yourself and doubling down on your obsessive hate affair with Caufield. That'll make some great quotes to dig up in the near future along with those :

Jesus, what a series of posts

 

[Eggtimer]

I’m not sure about superstar but he is very good, deadly shot , not out of the realm of impossible to see him be a superstar either though

 

[VivaLasVegas]

He's not. He won't ever be a Selke caliber forward but he's noticeably better than last year in this area. He more and more finds ways to be involved in the play when the other team has possession. He's no Bob Gainey but he sure hasn't been a liability out there so far this season.

Not so sure about that, as when Caufield was playing the VGK on Saturday they were basically able to easily push him away as needed like he was a bag of cotton candy. Tough little kid with a great shot and a nose for the game to be sure, but he's got his physical limitations.

 

[Jussi]

He's the new Brian Savage.

 

[MXD]

He's the new Brian Savage.

That's... Savage?!

(Especially so as he may be seeing your post).

 

[Martin Skoula]

I mean, ever since St. Louis took over, he's 2nd in even-strength goals behind Matthews...

NHL Stats

The official source for NHL Stats including skaters, goalies, teams stats and more.

www.nhl.com

That's a 50 games sample, and the eye-test is clear that Caufield is the real deal.

If we're looking at 50 game samples, Matthews was pacing for 82 goals without needing to use parts of 2 seasons for it. If you're going to use the best 50 game sample Caulfield has, you should do the same for actual stars to realize when they get hot 40/80 pace is nothing.

 

[Breakers]

I mean he is driving even strength at a very good rate above replacement.
I could see him turning into a superstar with his finishing ability, and PP opportunities

With that being said…..
He does give back an absolute F-load defensively though.

 

[didimentionlarseller]

Ah yes Montreal fans and overrating their players, remember when Drouin was a #1 Center and Tampa was using him wrong or Nick Suzuki was guaranteed to be a PPG player in his second year because "just watch him".

source - trust me bro

ah yes