I don’t know what many fans have against Cole Caufield. For some reason they hate and distrust him. As if he started flirting with their sister.
I read too much and hear too many sports commentators get carried away with giving importance to a small group of fans who say something. But it seems like there aren’t just a few people here who hate Caufield. There are a lot of them.
Especially since the improvement of Jurai Slafkovsky. The latter should be sanctified, while Caufield is made good for nothing.
And I don’t understand why.
It is true that Messiah Slafkovsky has been solid in his last 12 games. He has 11 points.
Caufield, the bad guy, has 12.
The double for Caufield –
If he doesn’t score a point in his last two games, he’ll finish his season with 64 points. I remember him at 23.
That will be the 134e best season in Canadian history and he would be the 17th youngest player to achieve that score. Not so bad after 114 years.
It’s like Jacques Lemaire at the same age, Yvan Cournoyer at 26, Bobby Smith at 24, Guy Lafleur at 20 or Mats Naslund at 24.
It will be the 9the Player since 2000 to reach this plateau.
He is the 5e best scorer of his draft year, although he was selected in the 15the Rank.
If he doesn’t score, is he useless?
What I hear most often from Caufield’s critics is that he’s useless when he’s not scoring, while Slafkovsky can be very useful without producing anything.
These people don’t watch the same games as me. I asked the Sportlogiq bots if I was the crazy one.
Slakovsky is six inches taller and should block a lot more passes than Caufield. But no. Cole is better (2.5 per game).
The big Slovakian should also pick up more pucks. But no, they both do the same thing.
Besides, Slafkovsky is -19 this season for a reason. Caufield is -4 and is one of the best on the team in that regard.
The huge Jurai should perhaps have fewer turnovers than Caufield, since he has an easier time protecting the puck. But no, Cole is better. In fact, he is in the top 30 in the NHL in that regard. And remember, Caufield keeps the puck for an average of 46 seconds per game. That’s 15 seconds longer than Slafkovsky.
We can also imagine that CH’s first overall pick could generate more scoring opportunities when he comes into play with the opposing puck due to his speed and size. Again, no, not at all. Caufield is 33e in the league for that. Slakovsky is 253e.
Not 50 goals, but not bad
My point is not to condemn Jurai Slafkovsky. He shut me out the last time I did. It is true that his progress is fantastic. He remains significantly better than Caufield in one-on-ones and blocked shots.
My point is to make it clear that Cole Caufield is not a tourist first and foremost. He has had some rough patches this season, but overall it has been anything but a bad season.
We would have liked him to score 50 goals. I think he would too.
I fear that the situation several fans are in with Caufield is a bit of a microcosm of what will happen to the Canadian next year. We expected an exceptional season from Cole, but that was not the case. It was just a good season. Many expect much better for the CH next year and even a fight for the playoffs. If it is only better, but not much better, what happens then?
The pressure at the Bell Centre will increase.
-In collaboration with Sportlogiq
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