It’s finally over. The Montreal Canadiens have signed Cole Caufield to an eight-year deal.
After a long wait that had Canadiens fans across the world breaking a sweat, Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes announced that the club had signed Cole Caufield to an eight-year deal worth $7.85M per year.
The deal will make Caufield the second-highest paid skater on the team as of next season, earning just $25,000 less than Nick Suzuki.
The 22-year-old not only got a significant show of confidence from the Canadiens management team, but also signed a deal that will help the club create a sort of salary structure moving forward; keeping salaries relative to that of their top two stars.
Caufield proved to be one of the NHL’s best goal-scorers last season, potting 26 goals in just 46 games before his shoulder injury; a 47-goal pace over a full 82-game season.
The impressive part? Most of those goals were scored at even strength, due to the Canadiens’ underwhelming power play; meaning that Caufield could stand to score even more in the future, as the club continues to add talent to their ranks.
It’s clear that, in the short term, this may be a lot of money for a youngster that hasn’t played a full season in the NHL just yet, but it’s clear to see that the potential to become a star is there; and it will likely prove to be a bargain as soon as next season.
Having that kind of deal in place for your two best players also gives Kent Hughes significant value in his core pieces moving forward; as both Caufield and Suzuki will continue to improve, while the salary cap rises considerably over the next five years.
While salaries increase, Caufield and Suzuki will remain bargains; giving the Canadiens a real shot to build a winner moving forward.
Cole Caufield could have bet on himself and pushed for a short-term deal in order to truly cash in down the line, but instead chose security and proved his love for the city by making a long-term commitment to playing and winning in Montreal.
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