Are we too harsh on Cole Caufield? Even though the small forward finds himself tied for the top scorer in the National Hockey League (NHL) with 12 goals, his defensive deficiencies constantly come up on the table.
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As Anthony Martineau recalled during his column on the show JiC on TVA Sports, we often tend to criticize natural scorers more harshly before deploring their departure when they leave Montreal.
“In the recent history of the Montreal Canadiens, it seems that with natural markers, there is always a “yes, but…”. Michael Ryder, yes, but he didn’t skate. Tyler Toffoli, yes, but he just shovels and he’s not fast either. Cammalleri is a guy from the periphery. Pacioretty, despite his size, did not hit. But when these guys leave, we always end up getting bored,” Martineau recalled.
In the case of Caufield, it is above all his contribution on defense as well as his meager success in recovering the puck which draws criticism towards him. Yet, Caufield does what few players are capable of doing on a regular basis in the NHL: make the red light of the opponent’s goals sparkle.
“The hardest thing in hockey is scoring goals. Good old Bob Bissonnette said it: “What are natural markers? It’s gold in a bar”. And Cole Caufield is one,” adds Martineau.
If we compare him to the players of his vintage, Caufield looks very good. He is first in goal average per game (0.42) as well as in game-winning goals (18) and ranks second in five-on-five goals (66) as well as in shots (731) among all the players selected during the 2019 auction.
“Caufield is not a perfect player, but since the start of his career, he has done what he is asked to do according to the salary he is given: he scores goals and he produces,” concludes Martineau.
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