The Montreal Canadiens have a deep prospect pool but where will they play this season?
Montreal Canadiens top prospect Cole Caufield is still uncertain where he will play hockey this season. With the uncertainty around the college hockey season due to the coronavirus pandemic that is still running rampant in America, we still don’t know when the NCAA hockey season will begin.
There has been no official announcement of a cancellation or even really a formal postponement. There are just a lot of questions and not many answers at this point in time.
Rumours this morning are suggesting that Caufield may decide to play elsewhere.
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The 15th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft had a fantastic sophomore campaign for the Wisconsin Badgers. He scored 19 goals and 36 points in 36 games, leading the Badgers offensively in his first college season. This pushed aside any doubts that the small winger could produce at a higher level and that his tremendous scoring totals earlier in his career were reliant on Jack Hughes setting him up.
Now, with the college season up in the air, Caufield is rumoured to be heading to Sweden to play in the SHL.
Rumour: Cole Caufield (F) | Univ. of Wisconsin -> Rögle BK | https://t.co/92jDjGeZeo #SHL
— EP Transfers (@ep_transfers) September 20, 2020
This would be the best thing for the 19 year old’s development. Under normal circumstances another season of college hockey would be just fine. But these are not normal circumstances so sitting around waiting for NCAA to make a decision and then hoping it works isn’t a great plan for such a good prospect.
Caufield could wait until the AHL season starts but even that is undecided at this point. It should start in December but that could get pushed back if fans are not allowed in the buildings at that point in time.
On the other hand, the SHL has already begun with Habs prospect Mattias Norlinder settling in nicely yesterday in his debut game for Frolunda.
Could Caufield join him soon? It could happen, but this is still just a rumour. It would be great for Caufield’s development to play pro hockey for a season before joining the Canadiens. He is a small winger so getting used to the physicality of the pro game while playing against men in Europe would be great preparation for the rigours of the National Hockey League.
The team rumoured to be interested in signing Caufield is Rogle. They interestingly left Edmonton Oilers Raphael Lavoie out of the team’s plans last minute, tearing up his contract just hours before their first game yesterday.
Could that be because they believe Caufield is coming to take his place? We will have to wait and see, but it shouldn’t take long for this rumour to either be confirmed or squashed.
Playing in the best league in Sweden would be a terrific place for Caufield this season. It is one of the best leagues outside of the NHL, right up there with the AHL and KHL. It will be interesting to see if this rumour actually turns out to be true.