Cole Caufield the secret weapon this middling Montreal Canadiens’ offense needs

Cole Caufield might be the spark that this Montreal Canadiens team needs when it comes to the Playoffs.

We’re now only a couple of weeks away from the conclusion of the 2020-21 NHL regular-season and therefore, we’re edging closer and closer to the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And, if the Montreal Canadiens are to embark on a deep run then stud rookie Cole Caufield may well be their secret weapon.

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It has been a strange year for the Canadiens who started off hot with a 7-1-2 start to the season, but they quickly imploded and a number of alarming trends led to the firing of Head Coach Claude Julien, who was quickly replaced by Dominique Ducharme who currently has the interim tag to his name.

Things haven’t exactly improved all that much for Montreal under Ducharme given that they are 4-6-0 in their last 10 outings and they are still widely inconsistent.

The one positive omen is that the Flames have been inconsistent all year and may have left it to late to salvage their season, while the Canadiens do boast a loaded roster that is full of talent up and down the lineup.

That talent was only bolstered when Caufield, the 15th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, was called up by the Canadiens in April and big things were expected of arguably one of the purest scorers to enter the league in recent memory.

Cole Caufield can fire Montreal Canadiens to postseason glory

Fast forward a few weeks and, while he has yet to record a point, Caufield has flashed glimpses of his insanely high ceiling and scary potential in three games for Montreal, logging 13:33 of average total time and quickly adapting to the pace of the NHL game.

He had arguably his best game for the Canadiens on Friday night in a crucial 5-3 win against the Winnipeg Jets, recording three shots on goal, a shot-attempts-for-percentage of 85.7 percent and the second-highest expected goals-for (98.2 percent).

Yes, the puck didn’t go in for the rookie but he was one of the best players on the ice last night and he proved that he can adapt on the fly and fit into this team’s offensive structure without needing a full Training Camp.

There is no doubt that the points will start piling up once the 20-year-old gets the monkey off his back, and he could prove to be a key offensive weapon for the Montreal Canadiens both down the stretch and in the postseason.

In control of the final Playoff spot in the North Division, the Canadiens are on track to be a postseason team but they will need to improve in certain areas if they are to make a deep run, including in the offensive zone where they have certainly had their struggles.

Currently ranked 14th in Goals For Per Game (2.88) and 16th on the power play (20.2), the Habs are not a potent offensive force by any stretch of the imagination and the inability to really punish their opponents will hurt them big time in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

This is where Caufield enters the picture.

An absolutely electrifying goalscoring machine that can bust a game wide open with a single mind-boggling play, the right-wing is the kind of dynamic talent this Montreal offense needs and Caufield will score goals at the NHL level. And lots of them.

If he can continue to adapt to playing in a men’s league and continues to show encouraging progress, then there is every chance that he can get hot heading into the Playoffs and his lethal shot could be a real invaluable weapon for Montreal.

Teams won’t have that much tape on Caufield which makes him a real X-Factor, and if he can establish himself as a productive top-six forward and a threat on either power play unit, then his goalscoring prowess could well propel the Montreal Canadiens on a deep postseason run and perhaps all the way to glory if everything else clicks into place.