Cole Caufield has yet to sign his next contract with the Canadiens. In order to anchor him in Montreal for several seasons, Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton have no choice but to present him with an attractive proposal that will start at seven million as a basis for negotiation.
• Also read: A Stützle contract for Caufield?
• Also read: This is what a hostile bid for Cole Caufield would look like
We know one thing. He will break the bank. But the duration of the agreement will continue to be the basis of the war for Pat Brisson, his agent, and Hughes, the CH’s general manager.
We compare apples to apples. In the NHL, talent is compared to talent. In his second contract, the Caufield clan will be looking in the direction of several young attackers to find the perfect arrangement.
The Canadiens’ highest earner is Captain Nick Suzuki with $7.875 million. Suzuki signed an eight-year, $63 million contract extension on October 12, 2021. This contract ends in the years 2029-2030. At that time, Marc Bergevin still held the post of General Manager.
Stützle, Cozens and Co.
Caufield will earn a salary close to that of his good friend and stalwart center player. Thanks to collaboration with Sportlogiq’s statisticians, the journal used six benchmarks to give an idea of the number 22’s next contract.
Dylan Cozens (Buffalo), Matthew Boldy (Minnesota), Tim Stützle (Ottawa), Jason Robertson (Dallas), Jack Hughes (New Jersey) and Clayton Keller (Arizona) are the six nominees. The six star strikers were given long-term contracts immediately after their entry-level contracts. There’s only Robertson, who has opted for a slightly shorter four-year contract.
methodology
We compared Caufield’s stats with the other six forwards during their contract year.
In the case of Cozens and Boldy, they were granted contract extensions midway through this season. We will therefore use the statistics for the 2022-2023 season for them.
Hughes, the class leader in the 2019 draft, is a slightly different case. He signed his contract on November 30, 2021 but had only played two games in the 2021–22 season at the time of his contract due to injury. Therefore, for Hughes, we used the 2020-2021 numbers.
In the group, Caufield ranks highest in goals, expected goals (number of goals a player should score based on number of chances), shots attempted and shots at a reception. It stays true to its marker DNA. The American is always a menace, largely due to numerical superiority, and largely dominates the shot column on the shot. In an 82-game season, he would hit 111, a dangerous weapon he wields a bit like Alexander Ovechkin.
But Caufield is a long way off in the category of attempted passes toward the Enclave. Number 22 does not have the reputation of a game company.
All numbers are averages per game in all situations and ranks are among the top 500 players playing time. There is only the “Goals, Assists and Points” column, which does not represent an average. This is the six players’ production during their year as they negotiated their second contract in the NHL.
There is still time to negotiate
Photo QMI Agency, Thierry Laforce
Kent Hughes and Geoff Molson have previously said they hope to reach an agreement with their prolific winger, Cole Caufield.
In a market like Montreal, Caufield’s next deal is a hot topic. Fans are curious about the fate of little number 22.
As of June 1, Caufield is still unsigned for next season. Shall we hit the panic button? NO. There is nothing unusual about this situation.
Hughes and Jeff Gorton, the vice president of hockey operations, still have several weeks to decide their strategy and convince Caufield. CH’s 2019 first-round pick is a restricted free agent. There is no risk of losing it for nothing on July 1st. The only threat may come from a rare enemy proposal.
Last year, Jason Robertson avoided the Dallas Stars camp and finally landed a four-year, $31 million ($7.75 million average) deal on October 6. Hughes won’t be trying to emulate his colleague Jim Nill by waiting so long before he gets along with his young star player. But Robertson’s example shows that there is still a long way to go.
Zegras and Lafrenière too
At the NHL level, Trevor Zegras (Anaheim), Evan Bouchard (Edmonton), Alexis Lafreniere (New York), K’Andre Miller (New York) and Shane Pinto (Ottawa) are in the same boat as Caufield.
They all just ended their rookie contracts at the NHL level and need to sign new ones by the start of next season.
Zegras, also a first-round pick in 2019 (9th), broke the 60-point mark in his first two full seasons with the Ducks. He will also be gawking at a contract worth more than $7 million.
Always confident
In his last scramble during team coverage, Caufield hadn’t said too much about his next contract.
“There is no urgency on either side,” he said. We’ll get there. I’m not worried I’m concentrating on my rehabilitation, I don’t want to think about it too much. »
Caufield underwent surgery on his right shoulder in January and hopes to be back at 100% next camp. Doctors reported him a recovery period of four to six months.
Were it not for that shoulder injury, the Wisconsin left winger would have been knocking on the door of a 40-goal debut season. Last year he hit the target 26 times in 46 games.