Most Montreal Canadiens fans don’t need reminding that the team hasn’t seen a 40-goal scorer in some time. The last player to pull it off was Vincent Damphousse way back in 1993-94, when this humble Habs blogger was barely out of diapers. This interminable drought has been a source of misery for fans, as a lack of goal scoring has been their primary impediment to success over several decades.
Enter Cole Caufield, who has felt like their best chance to end that drought for several years, and finally seems poised to make it happen.
Caufield’s 23rd goal of the season was a perfect example of just how deadly accurate his shot is. The pass from Juraj Slafkovsky is a very good one, but Logan Thompson reads it well and gets over to cover that angle. Still, Caufield lifts it over his shoulder and proves that leaving him open is an extremely dangerous proposition, even if your goaltender can get over. He’s well on his way to a 40-goal season at this point. In fact, with two points in the win against the Eastern Conference-leading Capitals, he isn’t just chasing a goal milestone, he’s nearly on a point-per-game pace.
Max Pacioretty flirted with the 40-goal mark a few times during his Montreal days, but he was the only player to really come close since Damphousse. Even though Caufield has seemingly been usurped by Patrik Laine as the team’s primary trigger man on the power play, the chase is on because he’s finding plenty of opportunities at five-on-five. His current five-game goal streak has seen him scoring exclusively at even-strength, and if he can keep that up, any power play production around it is just a bonus.
He is currently on pace for around 45 goals, which leaves 50 within his reach if things go well for him in the second half of this season. You’d have to go back even further to find a 50-goal scorer in Montreal, as that hasn’t happened since Stéphane Richer accomplished the feat during the 1989-90 season. Caufield is rounding into perhaps the best goal scorer the team has had – at least in my lifetime – and he couldn’t be doing so at a better time for this team’s rebuild.
Ivan Demidov is slated to arrive next season. Nick Suzuki looks like he’ll soon be a 90-point player. Lane Hutson is electrifying fans everywhere he goes, and might challenge for the Calder. The team looks like they’re on the verge of something special.
Cole Caufield reaching his goal scoring ceiling would go a long way to this team becoming a force to be reckoned with.
