Advanced statistics: Caufield no longer scores with his inbound shot

Despite his small stature, Cole Caufield was selected 15th overall in the 2019 draft.

And why?

Because he’s an outstanding goal scorer.

It’s been obvious since his arrival in Montreal: Caufield loves to put the puck in the back of the net, as evidenced by his 70 successes in the space of 173 games (regular season).

The American loves to use his weapon to hurt his opponents, and what makes him so successful is his ability to score goals in every possible way.

On the other hand…

Since the start of the season, there has been a noticeable drop in the number of goals he has scored with his inbound shot.

Last season, Caufield was scoring 0.22 goals per game with his one timer…

And this year, we’re talking about an average of 0.06 goals per game when he draws on reception :

One timers pic.twitter.com/dj5haZzKqf

– Meghan Chayka (@MeghanChayka) February 8, 2024

Is it because other teams have figured out how to neutralize the #22 Habs?

The question arises, because we can see from the graph above that Caufield isn’t the only player to have experienced a certain slump at this level.

It’s the same for guys like David Pastrnak, Alex Ovechkin, Tage Thompson, Timo Meier and Victor Olofsson… Who are all recognized as real snipers in the National League.

That said, there’s one thing I’ve noticed in particular lately about Caufield’s game.

It doesn’t surprise me to see him scoring fewer goals on the power play when he receives a pass directly off the tape.

It used to be that Suzuki would give him a cross-ice pass so that he could shoot directly at the net, but that play has been much less used for several games now, because Slafkovsky is often found at the “old” captain’s desk.

Instead, Caufield tries to create space, and he moves around a lot more in the opponent’s zone… For better or for worse.

In a gust

– Go, go, go!

– Courage!

– Makes for great pictures.

Nylander’s dogs hit the ODR with the buds

(via: @MapleLeafs) pic.twitter.com/4oNSJjfXUs

– BarDown (@BarDown) February 8, 2024

– Great read on what’s in store for CF Montreal this season.

– Sad news in the Quebec sports world.