Canadiens: Three Reasons Cole Caufield Needs To Be Called Up Now

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Montreal Canadiens top prospect Cole Caufield has had a terrific season thus far. Even if he just decided to call it a season and went home today, the 2020-21 campaign would go down as enormous for his development.

Caufield played for the Wisconsin Badgers of the NCAA and absolutely torched opposing goaltenders. He scored 30 goals and 52 points in 31 games, leading the entire country in goals and points. He was also named the Hobey Baker Award winner as the best player in college hockey.

He didn’t even stop there.

Caufield then signed his entry-level contract with the Canadiens organization. He was assigned to the Laval Rocket to begin his pro career and looked extremely comfortable in his first pair of AHL games. The 20 year old right winger scored twice and added an assist in his debut and followed that up with another goal in his second game.

He scored the game winning goal in both games, putting him 15th in the AHL in game winners after just two contests.

The Stevens Point, Wisconsin native was the 15th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. He has been following a straight upward trajectory since then and looks to be the type of player that will fill nets with pucks at every level he plays. It seems to be a matter of time before he suits up with the Montreal Canadiens to make his NHL debut.

Here are the top three reasons that should happen right now.

Cole Caufield

The most important reason to call a player up to make his NHL debut is because he is ready to play at the highest level. You don’t give a young player an NHL shot just because he was a first round pick or because you want to see how he looks. You need to be sure that player is prepared to succeed at the NHL level.

And what more could Caufield possibly do to show he is ready to suit up with the Montreal Canadiens?

He started this season at 19 years of age and was almost immediately the best player in college hockey. He suited up at the World Juniors and played a solid two-way role on USA’s second line and helped them win a gold medal. He returned from the World Juniors in Edmonton to completely dominate college hockey.

Though he was good before World Juniors with 12 points in 10 games, Caufield was on another level when he returned to Wisconsin. He scored 40 points in 21 games to close out the season showing he wasn’t just a good college player but he was the best player in NCAA in just his second season at that level.

If that wasn’t enough, he proved in just two games at the AHL level that he was more than comfortable there as well. He scored three goals and added an assist in just two games and fired nine shots on goal in those two contests. His elite level skill was on full display and he was a threat to score on almost every shift.

Clearly, he was more than ready for the AHL, which should lead up to believe he is ready for the NHL.

MONTREAL, QC – FEBRUARY 22: Head coach Laval Rocket Joel Bouchard (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

Laval Rocket Schedule

While watching Caufield play at the AHL level shows he could be trusted to play in the NHL already, he doesn’t really have the option to play with Laval right now anyway.

There is always an argument to be made that a young player is better off playing a huge role in the minors than he is sitting on the bench and playing some fourth line minutes in the National Hockey League.

However, the Laval Rocket already had an odd April schedule and it just got lighter. Their next two games were just postponed without a new date yet because there was a positive test for Covid-19 on the Toronto Marlies roster. That cancelled a couple of games scheduled between the Rocket and Marlies on Thursday and Sunday.

This leaves the Rocket with just two games left this month. One of April 21st against the Belleville Senators and another against the Sens on April 30th.

The only reason to keep Caufield in Laval would be to let him play top six minutes at even strength and a huge role on the power play. That’s not an option as they have just one game in the next 16 days.

I’d argue Caufield is better off playing game in the NHL right now than the AHL. I know for a fact he is better off playing games with the Canadiens than practicing with the Laval Rocket.

Apr 12, 2021; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports /

Canadiens need offence

The Canadiens offence has been a bit of a roller coaster this season. When it is clicking, they look great and can put up a seven on the Winnipeg Jets or Vancouver Canucks. When it doesn’t fire on all cylinders, it can go dormant for a while.

The Habs scored 44 goals in their first ten games, an average of 4.4 per contest, which is terrific. Then they scored 21 in their next ten which is less than half of their first ten games. They followed that slow performance up with 39 goals in 12 games in the month of March. That is 3.25 per game which is enough to win their fair share. In April, they have 18 goals in seven games which is just over 2.5 per game. That’s not enough to win in the high scoring Canadian Division.

What the Canadiens need is just a little more consistency from their offence. Their power play has had its ups and downs, mostly downs, this season. Having a more threatening power play could make the difference in some of the lower scoring games.

Adding a player that can fire a wrist shot from anywhere on the ice and score is exactly what the Canadiens need. They haven’t had a player like in decades, well maybe Alex Kovalev when he was hot, but it’s a rare sight in Montreal.

The Canadiens have that player in their system and they need him to help balance out the offence on those nights when pucks just won’t go in. Caufield is the type of player that makes a puck go in when it doesn’t seem to be happening.

Next. Cautious buying at deadline was right approach. dark

That’s exactly what the Habs need. They know Caufield is ready, the Laval Rocket schedule is basically on pause for the rest of the month and they definitely need Caufield’s offence. It’s time to call him up.

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