Stu Cowan: Signing Cole Caufield long-term worth risk for Canadiens

Canadiens’ Cole Caufield handles the puck in the offensive zone during third period of National Hockey League game against the Seattle Kraken in Montreal Monday January 9, 2023. Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette files

“He reminds me of a guy like (Yvan) Cournoyer,” Savard said when I asked him about Caufield a couple of months ago. “He’s built like Cournoyer. He’s not tall, but he’s bulky and strong. He’s got a great shot and Yvan had a great shot. Yvan was a 40-goal scorer and this guy will be. He has a lot of quick speed like Yvan. I know they’re different, but there are similarities between the two.”

The Canadiens are now banking on Caufield to become a 40-goal scorer — at least — after agreeing Monday to terms on an eight-year, US$62.8-million contract with the 22-year-old winger.

Savard’s words carry weight since he won seven Stanley Cups during his 15 seasons as a defenceman with the Canadiens and was general manager the last two times the team won the championship, in 1986 and 1993.

The 5-foot-7, 152-pound Cournoyer won 10 Stanley Cups during 16 years with the Canadiens and the Hall of Fame winger had four 40-goal seasons, including a career-high 47 in 1971-72. The 5-foot-7, 166-pound Caufield was on pace to score 46 goals last season before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury that required surgery. Caufield scored 26 goals in 46 games before being sidelined and he has 48 goals in 83 games since Martin St. Louis took over as head coach last season.

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Cournoyer was 25 the first time he hit the 40-goal mark, scoring 43 in 1968-69. No Canadiens player has scored 40 goals since Vincent Damphousse scored 40 in 1993-94, and the last to score 50 was Stéphane Richer, who had 51 goals in 1989-90.

The Caufield contract is the first big one Kent Hughes has signed a player to since taking over as GM last season. Hughes was able to keep his salary-cap structure in place by signing Caufield for slightly less than what captain Nick Suzuki is earning. Former GM Marc Bergevin signed Suzuki signed an eight-year, US$63-million contract that kicked in this season with an annual salary-cap hit of $7.875 million. Caufield’s salary-cap hit will be $7.85 million.

The Canadiens are taking a risk signing Caufield for eight years since he has never played more than 67 games during his first three seasons in the NHL and the shoulder injury raises questions about durability at his size. But natural goal-scorers are hard to find and if Caufield does become a regular 40-goal scorer, this contract will look like a bargain.

It was a gamble worth taking and the Canadiens now have two cornerstone players in their rebuild locked up long-term.

“Cole’s special,” St. Louis said when he was a guest recently on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast. “The thing with Cole is he’s so contagious. His enthusiasm is off the chart. He just comes to the rink no matter what and he just brings everybody with a positive energy. I’m proud of what Cole has done since I’ve been there. I can’t say that it’s my doing.

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“At the end of the day, I think coaches we take care of the people that take care of the team,” St. Louis added. “I don’t take care of the team — the players take care of the team. I take care of the people that take care of the team. And that’s what I did with Cole. I just gave a platform — go play. I know he’s not a finished product. I know there’s holes in his game. But every 21- or 22-year-old has holes in his game. I had plenty of holes in my game. He’s scoring goals and it’s not something I’m going to teach Cole how to do. I’m not going to teach Cole how to score goals. Can I help him in getting more scoring chances? I think I can. Can I round up his game? Yeah, for sure. But his whole life Cole has been scoring goals.”

Suzuki and Caufield have developed a real chemistry together and moving forward the key will be finding a third linemate who can fit in well with them. Juraj Slafkovsky, the No. 1 overall pick at last year’s NHL Draft, might be able to turn into that guy.

“I think (Caufield’s) proven that he can score with the best of them and be a good player,” Suzuki said at the end of this season. “I think he’s grown a lot in his two-way game and I think there’s still room for him to grow. It’s exciting for what a player he could become. I think he’s done a good job of proving how he can play and hopefully get him back for long-term.

“We just like playing together, reading off each other,” Suzuki added. “We are able to find really good spots for him to score. I think we can just keep getting better together the more we play together. He’s a fun guy to play with every day.”

Suzuki and Caufield now have many days ahead of them together with the Canadiens.