The Montreal Canadiens have come to terms with forward Cole Caufield on an 8 year extension which will keep him in Montreal through the 2030-31 season.
Caufield, 22, was set to become a restricted free agent after his 3 year/$3.9M contract concluded at the end of this season. The former Hobey Baker award winner will now be under team control for the foreseeable future, and at an AAV of $7.85M per season, could quickly outperform his deal if he continues on his current development path.
After debuting at the end of the 2020-21 season, Caufield put up 43pts (23G, 20A) in 67 games the following year. He then eclipsed that goal total, potting 26 goals in only 46 games this past season, before being shut down with a shoulder injury.
At the time, Montreal was well outside the playoff picture, and was already riddled with injuries, leading the club to exercise additional caution with their budding star. Since being drafted 15th overall in 2019, Caufield’s 53 goals rank second amongst his draft class, trailing only top overall selection Jack Hughes (87).
Standing only 5 ‘7” tall, Caufield has flashed the high end goal scoring ability that allowed him to score 72 goals with the USNTDP squad in 2018. A record that continues to stand to this day. However, fans have already witnessed each of his first two full NHL campaigns cut short by injury as the Wisconsin native has only managed to suit up for 113 out of a possible 164 games the past two seasons.
Evidently Montreal felt comfortable with the risk, and doled out a long term deal to lock up their 1st line winger. Caufield’s deal is the 2nd major signing in as many offseasons for the Habs front office, who signed captain Nick Suzuki to an 8 year $63M contract last summer.
Montreal now has a young nucleus to build around with the likes of Suzuki, Caufield, and Kirby Dach signed to multi-year deals, to compliment prospects Arber Xhekaj, Juraj Slafkovsky, and whomever the club selects with the 5th overall pick in this summer’s draft.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.