Not a few Montreal Canadiens fans would agree that they really expected more from Cole Caufield last season.
Yet the Tricolore’s diminutive forward scored 65 points in 82 games, his NHL-best career points total.
In fact, he produced at a similar rate (0.79 points per game) to that of the 2022-2023 season (0.78 points per game), the campaign that earned him his big eight-year contract worth $7.85 million annually.
So why are many fans disappointed with Caufield’s 2023-2024 season?
Well, it’s because of the number of goals scored by the Habs’ number 22.
Virtually everyone predicted a 40-goal season for the Tricolore forward, but in the end he didn’t even reach the 30-goal plateau.
He scored 28 in 82 games, just two more than he had in just 46 games the previous season.
Caufield is known for being a natural scorer, so fans want to see him score goals galore, not get more assists than goals, as was the case last campaign.
The Habs’ number 22 hasn’t been able to score many goals, but that’s not for lack of trying.
In fact, Caufield finished the season with 314 shots, ranking 7ᵉ across the entire NHL.
This list shows that Caufield is in very good company, which may seem reassuring at first glance.
However, the problem arises when we compare the goals scored by each of the players on this list.
Caufield is the only one below the 30-goal mark.
Goals scored by the 10 players with the most shots in the 2023-2024 season
1. Nathan MacKinnon – 51 goals – 12.6% shots converted into goals
2. David Pastrnak – 47 goals – 12.3%
3. Auston Matthews – 69 goals – 18.7%
4. Brady Tkachuk – 37 goals – 10.4%
5. Filip Forsberg – 48 goals – 13.8%
6. William Nylander – 40 goals – 12.7%
7.Cole Caufield – 28 goals – 8.9%
8 .Nikita Kucherov – 44 goals – 14.4%
9. Artemi Panarin – 49 goals – 16.2%
10. Zach Hyman – 54 goals – 18.6
That’s a pretty interesting statistic, which says a lot about Cole Caufield’s last season, when he’s also the only one on this list to record a shot conversion percentage under 10%. The Habs forward is at 8.9%.
And that’s where there’s room for solid debate.
Is this lack of opportunism due to a lack of luck or rather a lack of finishing?
Caufield’s 23-24 season can only be a simple anomaly in Cole Caufield’s career, but it can also be worrying and representative of the limits of a small forward like Caufield.
The choice is yours.
In short, next season will be a real turning point for Caufield, when we’ll have a better idea of what he’s really like as a player.
It’s all very well for him to become more complete, as Martin St-Louis wants him to, but basically, Caufield’s job is to score goals.
So if he doesn’t perform any better than his 8.9% shot-to-goal conversion rate last season, the Habs will really have to find a way to make up for the team’s lack of goals.
Overtime
– Indeed.
Stop forgetting about THIS #Habs prospect…
Full pod
Watch: https://t.co/sGgf9rmbx9
Listen: https://t.co/jlZJ7w3BUs#GoHabsGo #thesickpodcast pic.twitter.com/eBec2Ks3h5
– The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro (@thesickpodcasts) July 14, 2024
– The Ottawa Senators really need Thomas Chabot to stay healthy.
After years of having skilled left-shot depth on their blue line, things have changed. And the Ottawa Senators desperately need Thomas Chabot to return to health (and form) next season. @TheHockeyNewshttps://t.co/tcAvBviTqu
– Steve Warne (@SteveWarneMedia) July 14, 2024
– A very good sequence at a crucial time of the season.
We tie a Club record with a seventh consecutive unbeaten game at Stade Saputo 
We tie a Club record with a seventh consecutive game unbeaten at home! #CFMTL pic.twitter.com/0lNVlUmI3J
– CF Montréal (@cfmontreal) July 14, 2024
– He is indeed quite a talent. Spain is lucky to go from Rafael Nadal to Carlos Alcaraz.
Probably unwise to ever count out Djokovic, but assuming Alcaraz holds – and he’s been dominant – it’s easy to envision him running off French Open and #Wimbledon doubles in, like, six of eight years.
He’s not even close to prime.
Special talent.
– Rob Rossi (@Real_RobRossi) July 14, 2024
– Another Canadian would go to France in Ligue 1.
According to The Scottish Sun, the 24-year-old Canadian international is on the verge of joining AJ Auxerre, who have just climbed back into Ligue 1 after winning the Ligue 2 title.
At Motherwell, Bair racked up 15 goals and 6… pic.twitter.com/GTXohVTybf
– Nilton Jorge (@NiltonJorge) July 14, 2024
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