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Canadiens Player Grades: Caufield Clutch Scoring Success
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- Canadiens Player Grades: Caufield Clutch Scoring Success
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Montreal Canadiens are historically known as a high-flying hockey team, which almost always translated to an abundance of offence, but that was no longer the case until Cole Caufield joined the fold.
Simply put, Caufield is the type of elite forward that serves as a throwback to an era in which the Habs scored at will. He was one of the main driving forces behind their excellent results in 2025-26.
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With 51 goals and 37 assists in 81 games, Caufield set a career high in goals and points, doing so while providing the team with a level of discipline that was previously unseen, leading to the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy victory for the 25-year-old forward.
5v5 Production
Caufield led all Canadiens players in points per 60 at 5v5, to the tune of 2.71 p/60. To be perfectly accurate, Samuel Blais , who only 107 5v5 minutes in the NHL, had a slightly higher ratio of 2.78 p/60, but Caufield led all regularly used Habs players in that department.
Unsurprisingly, Caufield also led the Canadiens in goals per 60, a situation made possible by the fact that he scored 33 of his goals at 5v5, more than any other NHL player.
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Consequently, Caufield had the highest goals per 60 ratio in the entire league.
If we remove empty-net goals from the equation, Caufield was far and away the NHL's best sniper, but there's a certain amount of intellectual dishonesty in play by suggesting such a filter.
Defensively responsible forwards are trusted to protect leads, and though Caufield's underlying numbers are quite good, as you'll see in the next section, he's not going to challenge linemate Nick Suzuki for the Selke Trophy any time soon.
Scoring empty-net goals is often a reward for staunch defensive work throughout an entire career, and I would feel a little silly ignoring their value.
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That being said, Caufield is the NHL's best goalscorer when it comes to beating actual NHL goalies, and there's no debate on the matter.
Underlying Numbers
It's difficult to separate Caufield's individual contributions from the rest of the first line. The same can be said about his fellow first-liners, Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky .
With that in mind, the Canadiens continue to feature one of the best first lines in the NHL, and Caufield is a significant reason why.
They managed to outscore their opponents 33-14 at 5v5, good for a 70.2% share in goals scored. And the great news is that the stats suggest their excellent results are not a flash in the pan.
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They maintained a 56.2 expected goal share, while outshooting their opponents 598-477 (55.6%).
Most importantly, they also finished the season with a 51.5% share in high-danger scoring chances, and while that may not seem overly impressive given the rest of their numbers, it's a great result on a team such as the Canadiens.
The Habs only managed to control 45.6% of the high-quality scoring chances whenever Caufield and Company were not on the ice.
In other words, with the first trio playing, the Canadiens are a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. When they leave the ice, nothing could be further than the truth.
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Playoff Value
The playoffs offered Caufield a very different, and quite frustrating reality: there's a lot less open ice to work with when the opposing team focuses all its defensive efforts on shutting you down.
And that's exactly what the Tampa Bay Lightning , Buffalo Sabres , and Carolina Hurricanes did.
The best defensive players faced Montreal's first line, giving the rest of the lineup an opportunity to stretch their legs from an offensive standpoint.
And yet, Caufield still managed to score 13 points in 19 games.
It was an underwhelming result, especially since he struggled to produce many points at 5v5, but it was not a complete collapse of his offensive game, as was suggested by some.
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The 2026 playoff run was also a good reminder that it's incredibly difficult to win the Stanley Cup, and that the star players must find a new gear if the team is to succeed.
This chapter of Caufield's book is yet to be written, but given that he treats pressure as a privilege, we're likely to see an uptick in results the next time he participates in playoff hockey.
After all, expecting Caufield to fail has never been a good bet.
Cole Caufield Player Grade
It's tempting to take Caufield's grade down a notch due to his lowered goal-scoring pace in the playoffs, which saw him find the back of the net at 5v5 on just two occasions, but the fact remains that he was the first Canadiens player to score 50+ goals since Stéphane Richer in 1990.
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In addition, he was also the first Canadiens player since Guy Lafleur (1979-80) to score more than 25 times away from home.
12 of his markers were over the game-winning goal variety, a testament to his ability to drive the Canadiens forward when they need it most.
Few, if any players make a greater impact when scoring goals for their respective NHL teams.
Cole Caufield Grade : A+ (90-100%)
Montreal Canadiens and Cole Caufield statistics via Natural Stat Trick .
Previously published Canadiens player grades:
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