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Canadiens: Would The A Be A Good Idea For Caufield?
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- Canadiens: Would The A Be A Good Idea For Caufield?
With the Montreal Canadiens ' tournament fast approaching, one topic is starting to make the rounds on both social media and the airwaves: who will inherit the A left vacant by Brendan Gallagher 's departure? We covered the topic a couple of months ago , a few days after the alternate captain was sent to the Vancouver Canucks , and Lane Hutson was our pick.
On Thursday, Georges Laraque told BPM Sports that he believed Cole Caufield should get the A, and that wasn't even a question. Here's why we disagree. No one can say Caufield isn't already a leader on this team. When you're one of the top players, you're automatically one of the leaders, but it doesn't necessarily mean that being alternate captain is a foregone conclusion.
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After scoring 50 goals last season, expectations will be very high for the American sniper this year, and he may put a lot of pressure on himself to repeat the feat. When Max Pacioretty was elected captain of the Canadiens, he appeared to struggle with wearing both hats: that of the team's main goal producer and that of captain. When he wasn't scoring, the captain role seemed to weigh very heavily on his shoulders, and he wasn't in a great mood to deal with the media if things weren't going well for him personally.
Caufield isn't cut from the same ilk. Whatever is happening with him personally on the ice, he's still happy as long as the team is winning and things are clicking. So we doubt he would have a Pacioretty-like reaction if he were going through a scoring drought, but we do believe the pressure to be the team's main goal scorer is enough in itself. Last year, while chasing his elusive 50th goal, he started to feel the pressure, and it even showed on the ice.
The winger doesn't need an A to be a great influence on the group; he's always got a smile on his face and a sunny disposition, which contribute to making it fun to come to the rink every day.
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Josh Anderson 's name has also been mentioned, and while the veteran certainly was a great example in the playoffs, he doesn't play at that level all year long. He can't be expected to either, given his shoulder injury history. Furthermore, he's already 32, and he'll be playing the last season of his contract. Will he be around next year? Nobody knows right now, but he has played more years with the Habs than the number of years he has left to play. At one stage, Anderson could have been a good pick, but it feels like it's too late now.
Meanwhile, Hutson is still young, but he's already such a huge part of this team, and he rallies players around him. Last October, when he signed his eight-year contract extension and Martin St-Louis announced it on the ice at the end of practice after sending Hutson to do a lap around the ice, the players' reaction was quite clear: they were ecstatic, and they swarmed the blueliner as he finished his lap.
He's always early on the ice whenever there's a practice; he and Ivan Demidov are members of the early bird club. Whenever there's an optional skate, Hutson is there leading by example regardless of how he played the night before. Even when there's a day off, he still wants to skate; the team even had to forbid him from taking to the ice to force him to take a day off.
Finally, much like Nick Suzuki , he doesn't panic on the ice; he has a certain poise that is also a great character trait for a leader. We remain convinced that Hutson, despite his young age (22), is the right pick for the job.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains .
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