‘Goal’ Caufield Returns To Calder Form Under St. Louis | MHN+

Montreal Canadiens rookie winger Cole Caufield is finally in the Calder Trophy form so many thought he’d be in throughout the 2021-22 regular season.

Caufield was a Calder Trophy favourite to be the NHL’s rookie of the year this season, but like so many Montreal Canadiens players he fell victim to a season that defined the term Murphy’s Law. For Caufield and his teammates, anything that could go wrong did and as a result,  Martin St. Louis was hired as interim head coach two weeks ago today. It’s no coincidence that Caufield has amassed eight points in the six games since the hire, with the youngster praising the change in philosophy brought in by the Hall of Famer and Stanley Cup champion.

Here’s a look at how the St. Louis hire, and the new culture focused on concepts, not systems, has transformed Caufield back into the offensive catalyst the Canadiens always knew he could and still be.

Caufield’s Rough Start to the Season

After bursting on the scene during the tail-end of the 2020-2021 season and winning the hearts of Canadiens fans with a herculean playoff performance, expectations were high for Caufield. Unfortunately, Cole didn’t have the desired start people were expecting, which mirrored the team as a whole. Caufield found himself going from first-line duty to third-line duty to first-line duty in Laval within less than a month. After being recalled again in November, Caufield stayed on the main roster due in part to the growing list of injuries to key vets and Covid-19 infections. Despite having over 15 regulars out of the lineup, Caufield could not get Top 6 minutes under Ducharme; often preferring hardworking forwards like Laurent Dauphin or Alex Belzile.

“Just kind of staying level-headed, getting back to myself, focusing on me, and getting back to my game,” Caufield said earlier in the season prior to the St. Louis hire.

As the Habs came out of their extended holiday and COVID break and proceeded to go 1-8-3 between Jan. 1 and Feb. 8, there was plenty of internal and external talk that Caufield should be sent down to the Laval Rocket in the AHL, not just to get more playing time but more importantly to escape the mental damage and confidence destruction the 22-year-old rookie was surely suffering in the NHL. Instead, the team chose to change the culture on and off the ice and let Caufield continue his learning at the NHL level.

“As the season went along, as things were playing out, the way we were playing, I just felt it was deteriorating,” executive vice president Jeff Gorton explained to the media when the team introduced St. Louis as interim head coach.

Martin St. Louis: The Teacher

Upon his hiring, the new Montreal Canadiens bench boss quickly identified Caufield as a player he’d like to work with. Small in stature but huge in heart and work ethic, St. Louis carved out a hall of fame career despite not just being a first-round pick like Caufield, but not being drafted at all. However, that didn’t stop the hard-working and determined St. Louis from becoming a bonafide NHL superstar. He did that by always being willing to and wanting to learn and improve.

“I wasn’t necessarily the fastest or strongest, the best hands, the best shot. I was pretty good at those things, but what I was elite at was getting better. That wasn’t just physically, that was mentally, how to read the game,” St. Louis said when he was hiring.

He instantly applied that attitude in his handling of Caufield, who, unlike St. Louis, came with plenty of accolades as a first-round pick and was the 2021 Hobey Baker Award winner as the best player in NCAA hockey.

Despite not even being able to practice before his first game as the new interim head coach (against the Washington Capitals), he was instantly pacing across the bench and communicating with his players from the opening faceoff. St. Louis was visibly in constant conversation with Caufield, and, after each shift, Caufield looked to be moving better and better. In just one period it was noticeable how liberated Caufield was on the ice, as he was able to play his game at his pace without worrying that he would be benched for minor mistakes as he was under Ducharme.

In the second period of that 5-2 loss to the Caps on Feb. 10, Caufield, who had been relegated to the second powerplay unit since November, was given a shot on the first, and, within seconds, this happened.

The Return of Goal Caufield

From that game in, Caufield’s game has taken off again. St. Louis quickly moved Caufield to his rightful place next to Nick Suzuki, and the two looked like they picked off right where they left off earlier in the season and in the 2021 Stanley Cup playoff run. His ice time has risen and on February 17, in a 3-2 overtime win over the St. Louis Blues, Caufield played a career-high 21:04. Oh by the way, in that same game, Caufield tied the game at two with 8.6 seconds left in regulation and then lit the lamp again 2:22 into overtime. In the 3-2 shootout win over the New York Islanders this past Sunday, Caufield had an assist and then scored in the shootout. Then on Monday, Caufield was a beast again as he finished with a goal and an assist.

“It’s just to reset his mental side. He’s playing free. He makes mistakes on the ice, of course. I also made mistakes on the ice, but he does many more good things than mistakes, so, as a coach, you have to live with the mistakes as long as the good things are there,” St. Louis said following the 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs Monday.

Caufield has clearly appreciated that trust and focus on the bigger picture as it has shown in his game.

“He trusts my game. I think that’s the biggest part for me,” the young winger said Monday.

By the Numbers

Caufield has been the hottest player for the Montreal Canadiens since St. Louis took over, putting up an impressive five goals and three assists for eight points in six games. He’s had the most amount of scoring chances, the most amount of shots, and looks like the most dangerous player on the ice when the puck is on his stick. The eye test shows that Caufield has truly begun taking over games, but what do the underlying numbers say?

The biggest and most striking changes in Caufield’s game have to be his skating and his processing time. In the first half of the season, we often saw him fumbling pucks or making the extra move in order to take his shot, often resulting in a turnover or a missed shot attempt. This was evidenced when looking at his advanced numbers, as Caufield sported a 46.84% Corsi% and a 44.65 xGF% through his first 30 games. For those unfamiliar with what this means, you generally want to be above the 50% threshold, as it means you positively impact the game from a transition and expecting offense perspective. Clearly, in the first half of the season, Caufield’s game was not conducive to sustained offense.

However, over the last 6 games, Caufield is sporting a Corsi% of 55% and an xGF% of 57.84. The sharp increase in possession, scoring chance and offensive generation expectation show analytically, on top of the eye test every fan has had access to since February 10th, that Cole Caufield has reached an extra gear and has become one of the most dangerous players on the team. His quickness, elite offensive abilities, and his newfound confidence under St. Louis has put the once Calder Trophy favourite back on the path everyone expected of him at the beginning of the season. With 31 games left on the regular season for the Montreal Canadiens, expect to see a few more sightings of Goal Caufield.

By Marc Dumont

Marc has been covering the Habs for over a decade. He previously worked for Journal Metro, The Athletic, The ... More about Marc Dumont