Montreal Canadiens: Just How Soon Could We See Cole Caufield In Habs Jersey?

The Montreal Canadiens made an excellent selection at the 2019 NHL Draft, taking Cole Caufield 15th overall. How soon could he join the Habs?

The Montreal Canadiens were fortunate to have Cole Caufield fall to them at the 2019 NHL Draft. The Habs had a good season last year, finishing with 96 points in the standings but it wasn’t enough to earn them a trip to the postseason. This is supposed to be the worst place for an NHL team to be at the end of a season.

Obviously, teams want to make the playoffs. Only 16 teams earn that privilege each season. The other 15 teams miss out, but they do get the higher draft picks. Finishing where the Habs did last year is supposedly the dreaded middle ground. They didn’t finish high enough in the standings to make the playoffs, but they didn’t finish low enough to be handed a great pick either.

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This left them heading into the event with the 15th overall selection. However, they surely did not come away disappointed with their choice. Somehow, Cole Caufield fell into their laps in the middle of the first round.

Caufield has proven to be an exceptional goal scorer at every level. He had an incredible season with the United States National Team Development Program last year. He played 64 games and scored 72 goals. He tore up the World Under-18 Tournament as well, scoring 14 goals in seven games.

Caufield has basically scored at a goal-per-game pace or better everywhere he has played. He is even doing it this season as a Freshman with the University of Wisconsin. He has played eight games and has eight goals and three assists. His skill with the puck, ability to get open when he doesn’t have the puck, speed, vision and of course, his laser shot that eludes the best goaltenders make him an enticing prospect.

Caufield may be just 18 years old, but he is going to be an impact player as soon as he steps foot in the NHL. How soon could that be? Well, he said himself earlier this year that he plans on only playing one season with Wisconsin before turning pro. If he signs as soon as his NCAA season ends, he could be scoring goals for the Habs before this regular season finishes.

Just how soon could he join the Habs? Well, that depends how far his college team goes in the NCAA postseason. Last season, the Wisconsin Badgers played their final game on March 10th. They struggled and weren’t invited to the Frozen Four playoffs, so they were finished early.

If the same thing were to happen again, the Canadiens could count on Caufield showing up shortly after the trade deadline.

Wisconsin is off to a middling start, with a record of 4-4 after eight games. Their last regular season game is scheduled for February 29th against Ohio State. Even if their season really goes in the tank, they will qualify for the Big Ten conference playoffs.

The Badgers headed into their games this weekend ranked seventh in the country. They lost both games on the road to Penn State who were ranked 12th so Wisconsin will drop a bit in the rankings but they aren’t a pushover.

Where things will get interesting for Wisconsin is during their conference playoffs. The Big Ten conference has a handful of great teams this season, including Ohio State who are ranked 13th, Notre Dame who are fifth and Penn State who were ranked 12th. Michigan, Michigan State and Minnesota aren’t off to terrific starts, but are solid teams as well. It’s going to make for a fascinating playoffs inside the conference in March.

Wisconsin can score goals just as well as anyone, but they have had a difficult time keeping the puck out of their own net. They have allowed 30 goals in eight games, which is the most goals against in their conference.

There are seven teams in the conference and the way their playoffs work is the first overall team gets a bye to the conference semifinals. The second ranked team plays a best of three against the seventh ranked team. The third seed hosts the sixth seed and the fourth seed takes on the fifth seed with the higher seen hosting all three games in three days if necessary.

These series will take place from March 6th-8th. If Wisconsin loses this round, their season would be done at that time. If they advance past the opening round, they would move on to play the conference semi-finals on March 14th. If they make it this far, even if they lose the semi-finals, there is still a chance they get invited to the Frozen Four regional playoffs which begin on March 27th. The teams won’t officially be announced until March 22nd.

Now, if Wisconsin can find a way to keep the puck out of their net and have a strong season, they can count on being invited to the regionals. This means they would play the weekend of March 27th-29th. If they win a pair of games that weekend they would move on the the Frozen Four which is the national semi-finals on April 9th. The winners that night play for the championship on April 11th.

So, the timeline for Caufield joining the Canadiens this season could be anywhere from March 8th to April 11th. We saw Quinn Hughes sign with the Vancouver Canucks after his Michigan squad had a down season and was eliminated from the Big Ten conference playoffs on March 10th last year.

If Wisconsin continue to play .500 hockey and lose in the opening round of the postseason, we could see Caufield make his NHL debut as early as March 10th against the Nashville Predators at the Bell Centre. This would give him the opportunity to play as many as 12 regular season games with the Habs this season.

If Wisconsin advance past the first round but lose in the conference semi-finals, we would have to wait until March 22nd to see if they clinch a spot in the regional playoffs. If not, Caufield could be with the Habs when they host the Buffalo Sabres on March 24th and play six NHL games.

If Wisconsin goes on a run in the NCAA playoffs and make it to the national semi-finals, the NHL regular season would be over for a week before Caufield completed his college campaign.

The Wisconsin Badgers are off to an okay start but are in a really difficult conference. If things continue for the rest of the season the way they have started, the Badgers could be bowing out early and Caufield could be a Canadiens sniper as early as March 10th. As much as I’d love to see Caufield’s college team have success, I’d like to see him with the Habs sooner than later.

Let’s hope he continues scoring at his goal-per-game pace but his Badgers continue to stumble a bit as well. That way, we could see Caufield suit up for a dozen NHL games this season.