The Canadian | A place that Cole Caufield happily gives up

There are players who demand considerable amounts of money to give up a jersey number to a teammate, and similarly, perhaps Cole Caufield could charge rent to Patrik Laine.

This is because Laine took Caufield’s exact place in the numerical advantage, for the immediate future anyway: at the height of the circles and to the right of the enemy goalkeeper. Since his first game with the Canadian on December 3, the Finnish forward has collected six goals in seven games, and all six have been achieved on the power play, and also in the same way, with a lively shot that left the same place.

It turns out that this place belonged to Caufield for a very long time, but the one who wears number 13 does not plan to make his new teammate pay for this patch of ice.

“If Patrik can continue to do the same thing, I don’t mind at all! he explained after training on Wednesday noon in Brossard. It’s very pleasant to see him doing like that, and it will make me happy to continue to give him the puck if he continues to put it in the back of the net! »

While everyone is celebrating Laine’s comeback, Caufield has to be content with a more modest production, at least in terms of goals. Since Laine’s arrival, the American has scored just one goal, which is a form of offensive drought for him. On the other hand, he collected six assists during the same period.

He insists: it doesn’t bother him at all.

“Everyone is interchangeable,” he added. I didn’t really have to change my role with the power play. For us, Patrik is extra ammunition, and it works, so I’m not going to start complaining. »

Martin St-Louis argues that this situation falls into the category of beautiful problems.

“We have more ammunition with Patrik,” explained the Montreal coach on Wednesday. Him and Cole, they’re two righties, and also two guys who shouldn’t necessarily be on the right on the power play because both have good one-timers.

“What we have to do is make sure that they are predictable for us, but unpredictable for the opponents. We can ask them to change places from time to time, and we learn how to maximize everyone’s strengths. We want Cole to be able to touch the puck, to get his chances to score as well. We learn to manage all that. »

In the meantime, we can guess that Caufield is not going to start losing sleep, despite the affront of seeing someone else skate where he likes to skate. He remains the club’s top scorer this season with 17 goals, and he knows very well that he will have the chance to add to that total sooner or later.

“With a player as threatening as him on the ice, it creates space for others,” he added. Patrik will have the puck, the opponents will have to adjust, and it will be to our advantage. »

Wool, more wool

The day after the festive evening in Brossard, there was still a lot of talk about Patrik Laine in the Canadian’s locker room. Among other things, his teammates noticed that his good shot was still there, even after an absence of almost a year from the NHL ice rinks. “It’s probably not something that gets lost,” Cole Caufield said. It’s a gift, that’s for sure, and it’s also down to his instinct and his confidence; he knows exactly where he can send the puck. »

Primeau in the dark

With the Canadian preparing to play two games in two nights against the Red Wings – Friday in Detroit, then Saturday at the Bell Center – one might think that the question of goaltenders is already resolved, but no. In any case, as of Wednesday, Cayden Primeau said he was unaware of his schedule for the next few days, having not started a match since the 1^is December in Boston. We asked him if it was starting to be a little difficult for him, and after saying that he is only trying to be ready, he admitted that the situation is far from obvious, since he had to watch Samuel Montembeault start the team’s last seven games. “Confidence can remain with training, but it’s more difficult to stay ready when you don’t play often,” he agreed. We can do lots of things during training, but there is nothing that replaces the game situations in a real match. So the confidence can remain, but it’s the acuity of the game [sharpness] which can go up and down in such conditions. I would say this is the most difficult part. »