The Montreal Canadiens just had a terrific postseason and it’s hard to believe that after all this, Cole Caufield will be entering his rookie season this coming year. After a great run in college with the University of Wisconsin, then came into the AHL in the Laval Rocket and quickly proved that he was too good for the minors, earned a call up and never looked back.
Cole Caufield was drafted 15th overall in the 2019 draft. Well below the likes of Jack Hughes, Kappo Kakko and Kirby Dach, Caufield fell due to his short stature, being listed at 5’7″. And it took him a few years more to reach the NHL level with the Canadiens, playing two years at the college level.
The 2019 draft is still a very recent draft, and it is still impossible to know how many of these players will turn out. Caufield, in playing only 10 games in the NHL so far ties him in 11th for games played for players in that draft. However, in those ten games he has 4 goals, which is good for 5th in the draft class already. The important thing is that everyone in front of him has already played 114, 117, 56 and 82 games respectively.
There have been a lot of comparisons made in his career already. The big one is Martin St. Louis, who was the star of the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2002 to 2014. And the comparison seems apt in size, as Martin St. Louis is listed as only 5’8″. Despite his short stature, St. Louis put together 6 30+ goal seasons and 4 90+ point seasons including 102 points in 2006-07.
His accolades include 2 Art Ross Trophies in 2003-04 and 2013-14, and a Hart Trophy in 2003-04. Now, calling Caufield the next Martin St. Louis is very premature, but using St. Louis as a model on how to succeed as an undersized forward. It was even harder for St. Louis, in a time where there was more physical cycling and larger, bruisier forwards.
The other reason that Caufield is a favourite to being the Calder Trophy winner is that Owen Power might not play this year. First of all, Power is a defenceman, and it is much harder to win a trophy like this as a d-man. Everyone seems to vote for the best offensive player, as it is easier to determine offensive worth using just numbers, while for defending you have to watch every game.
And the fact that Power will probably be saddled with the anchor that is the Buffalo Sabres. The odds that Jack Eichel will return seem infinitesimal, and although pairing Power and Rasmus Dahlin would be intriguing, the odds that a rookie defender will do Calder well is not great.
And then there is the question of if Power will play. There has been a question of if Power wants to return to college for hockey reasons, or because he doesn’t want to play for the Sabres. This was compounded by Buffalo taking their time with meeting Power. That is not the best way to start a Calder campaign.
With the Canadiens, Caufield scored 4 goals in 10 games. Expanded over a full 82 game season, that is about 32 goals. Obviously, 10 games is a very small sample size. This years Calder Trophy winner Kirill Kaprizov, finished the season with 27 goals. But, we can also look at this years playoffs.
It is hard to compare numbers from the playoffs, as they are a completely different beast. There are players like Tomas Tatar, who perform well in the regular season but has always failed in the playoffs. Then there are the opposites like Jesperi Kotkaniemi who have not performed as well in the regular season as he has in the playoffs.
Caufield has played well in both. In the 20 playoff games, Caufield recorded another 4 goals and 12 points. Not bad for missing the first 2 games of the playoffs. Its good enough for third on the team with points behind linemates Tyler Toffoli and Nick Suzuki. His 4 goals tied him for 6th on the team with Corey Perry.
Whatever happens, the future is bright for Goal Caufield with the Montreal Canadiens. Paired with Nick Suzuki the duo seem unstoppable, and will only get better with time. Is it good enough for the Calder? Maybe. Probably. He would be Montreal’s first Calder Trophy winner since Ken Dryden in 1972. Only time will tell.