Cole Caufield scores at a historic rate for a player his age

When the Habs drafted Cole Caufield in 2019, they did so for one simple reason: they hoped to see the diminutive forward fill the opposing net to overflowing. Wherever he went, Caufield scored goals at an elite rate, and they hoped to see him do the same once he made it to the NHL.

And while he’s had a bit of a rougher time at the start of the 2021-22 season, it’s hard to say he hasn’t lived up to expectations so far. In 123 NHL games since the start of his career, the youngster has already scored no fewer than 53 goals.

He’s averaging 0.43 goals per game since the start of his career. That’s quite something.

But it becomes even more impressive when you compare him to other players his age. Looking back to 2005-06 (when the NHL’s salary cap was introduced), only four players surpass Ti-Cole in career goals per game at the same age (22).

And when the four players in question are Alex Ovechkin, Steven Stamkos, Rick Nash and Evgeni Malkin, it’s easy to see why.

Of course, he still has a long way to go to have a career on a par with the other four players, but clearly, the early career of the CH’s young maverick suggests that he’s not that far off the scoring talents of his four counterparts.

We’ll have to see if he’s in the right frame of mind to continue scoring for the rest of his career, but when you consider that the Tricolore is counting on a fine crop of prospects and that Caufield has connected with Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach (two guys who are likely to be in town for a long time), you’d think he’d be well surrounded.

As long as his shoulder doesn’t become an issue, there’s reason for optimism, but the good news is that it seems to be getting better.

That’s a pretty glowing comparison for the Tricolore forward, then, and it really shows that he’s possibly the elite goal scorer the CH can count on for the next eight seasons.

And if he continues to score like this, the fact that he’ll be making less than $8 million a year for the next eight seasons will quickly become very, very pleasant for the Habs.

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