Goal per game: Cole Caufield among the elite since the arrival of Martin St-Louis

As we all know, the Montreal Canadiens seem to have found their star maverick in Cole Caufield.

In 123 NHL games, the diminutive forward collected 84 points, including 53 goals.

Many fans and experts, however, feel that Caufield was “robbed” of the Calder Trophy by Dominique Ducharme in his rookie season.

And with good reason.

Since the arrival of Martin St-Louis behind the CH bench, number 22 has collected 71 points, including 48 goals in 83 games (0.86 points per game).

His 48 goals rank him 37th in the NHL since February 9, 2022, the day Dominique Ducharme was relieved of his duties.

This means that when Ducharme was the club’s head coach, Caufield managed just 13 points and 5 goals in 40 games (0.33 points per game).

There’s a huge difference of more than 0.5 points per game between the two sequences, and one of the reasons for this is the use of the smiling young forward.

Although Caufield’s 37th place in the top scorers’ chart since that date is very good, he has played far fewer games than the others in this ranking.

A little further down the line, we can see an even more impressive statistic from the Tricolore’s young star.

When you go to the excellent StatMuse site, you can enter any statistic you like, and I personally wrote the following in the search bar: goals per game since February 9, 2022, with more than 25 games played.

At the top of the list, excluding the minimum number of games played, are Lucas Condotta and Lukas Rousek, who scored a goal in their only NHL game.

Including a minimum of 25 games played, Ti-Cole is tied for 9th, alongside none other than Mikko Rantanen and Jason Robertson.

Rantanen is coming off a 55-goal season, while Robertson is in his second 40-plus-goal season, having just scored 46.

At the time of his injury this season, Caufield also established a fine mark in the glorious history of the Sainte-Flanelle.

Among players aged 22 and under, he had the club’s fourth-best goals-per-game mark in a single season.

He trails only Howie Morenz, Maurice Richard and Stéphane Richer.

The Tricolore decidedly has its elite maverick of the future with Caufield.

If he continues his momentum and progression, we could see him break 50 goals in a season pretty quickly.

Personally, I think he’ll get there as early as next season, if he stays healthy.

In gusto

– It’s a bold move, because no one has ever done it before.

– Bol Bol was recently released.

– It’s now official, Lionel Messi’s former teammate with FC Barcelona has signed with Inter Miami.

Official ✍️🇪🇸

We have signed legendary Spanish midfielder Sergio Busquets to a contract running through the 2025 @MLS season. Find out all the details: https://t.co/G52B002RGhhttps://t.co/0TR8PJiVGH pic.twitter.com/AMr11eo0AQ

– Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) July 16, 2023

– The young Coyotes player has extended his contract for the next three years.