Montreal Canadiens: 3 players to watch during the 2022-23 season

Montreal Canadiens should be excited about Cole Caufield in 2022-23.

The Montreal Canadiens may not see drastic strides from youngster Cole Caufield in 2022-23, but he may come out and surprise some. After all, he came back after the offseason with a stronger frame looking to improve his performance.

Caufield had reportedly bulked up a bit this offseason with the hopes of increasing his performance. He is heading into his third season in the National Hockey League (NHL), hoping to emerge with some more offense and establish himself.

Caufield logged 67 games played during the 2021-22 season, where he scored 23 goals and added 20 assists for 43 total points. There’s hope for him to put up something similar and possibly even see some growth.

After all, Caufield is a bit undersized. According to the Hockey-Reference (linked above) measurements, Caufield sizes up at 5-foot-9 and 162 pounds. Based on his comments at the Canadiens charity golf outing, he added five pounds of muscle and is aiming for a big season.

Time will tell, and Caufield may come out and post another 40-point performance, but there is hope that he can get into the 60-point range and use his size to his advantage. Being able to be stronger with the puck on his stick and use his finesse skill to continue finding offense.

Though, the cautionary tale is that scoring on a rebuilding team can be tough. Even with a stronger frame, his smaller size overall could still be a knock on him. Though the expectations for Caufield in 2022-23 should be raised.

Finding a way to put up offense during a rebuild is always challenging. For Caufield, it will be interesting to see how he uses this new frame to his advantage. Keep an eye on Caufield during the 2022-23 season.