I love this type of deal for Montreal. There is risk, but the upside far outweighs the downside in my opinion.

While those pointing out that Caulfield hasn't really played up to this contract as of yet, you are right! He hasn't, but you don't buy what a player has done, you bet on what they will be, and I think with an 8 year term, there are more scenarios where this turns into a great value for the Habs than turns into an albatross, so it's a good bet.

Worst case scenario, Caulfield doesn't improve, and what you get is a empty calorie goal scorer. Think Brock Boeser (so far). That's probably not worth this current AAV, but he has the type of skill that teams may gamble on, and the cap will likely increase enough that this won't be a crazy overpay, just disappointing.

On the upside, Caulfield could be a perrenial 45+ goal scorer, powerplay weapon, and if he improves his overall offensive (and defensive) play to become a more well rounded weapon, this is the type of contract that has you saving millions per year below what you would expect to pay for that player, especially as the cap rises.

You should go by cap hit percentage when comparing two contracts that were signed so far apart. Nylander signed for 8.76 percent, Caufield signed for 9.52 percent. While Caufield did get slightly more than Nylander, once you look at the contract structure it becomes clear that Nylander's contract was more lucrative. Nylander only signed away 1 UFA year, Caufield signed away 3 UFA years. Nylander also got signing bonuses throughout his entire contract, which made it "buyout proof". Lastly, there wasn't enormous escrow when Nylander signed. Nylander got a "buyout proof" contract that almost entirely walked him right to unrestricted free agency in his prime. Caufield signed away the better part of his prime as he will be 30 when this contract expires.

I agree that Nylander was the better player, and is likely better than what Caufield will become. I also agree that the Nylander contract had less risk, since I don't recall him getting hurt like Caufield did. With that said, his contract was more lucrative than Caufield's once you account for everything above. It is also obvious that this isn't an overvalue for Caufield. This contract is a slight variation of what every young star has signed for. Approx 7-8 million over 7-8 years. That's the market right now.

If you want to argue that you don't like the player, don't think he will be a 30-40 goal scorer, or think injuries will stunt his development, that's entirely fair. But I think using Nylander as a comparable is irrelevant to that because Nylander clearly got the better contract.

The way i see it, Caufield-Suzuki-Dach is a good balanced top 6 line for less than 20M total. That's good for MTL.

Funny, thats exactly what I did - and y'all overpaid lmao. 43 points!! Doesn't know his own goalies name!!!!! SUPERSTAR

Seems a little steep. Carolina can ice Svechnikov - Aho - Necas for 18 million for example and then role out Teravainen - Kotkaniemi - Jarvis which is an entire top six for not that much more. Combine that with of Dach playing out of position as a natural center, there's a lot of questions. It's a line that's fine going forward, but struggles defensively. It's also a line that has been inconsistent in its production. Committing 25% of the salary cap to it seems... rough

how much will that first line be next year? that the price for the next 3 years for the habs, for carolina you are looking at something around 25 million next year if necas has another 70 point season.

Ah, the salt from all the Leafs fans... keep it coming.

They can roll that out for 1 more season. Then they will all be making significantly more.

Did you not watch the Habs last year at all? They were a train wreck. Those stat totals are amazing for a young player, not to mention most of them are goals.

Caufield hasn't quite gotten play worth 7.85M per imo... but he should continue to get better. This can easily become a steal if he continues to develop... not to mention if the cap continues the rise too. It's a bit of a gamble, but one I think worth taking.

Fair deal.

Both parties get good value in relation to the market. If Caufield can improve and become a true star I think MTL will be very happy down the road, with the market price only going up from here

He was 21 years old and it's his 2nd season in the NHL. We aren't expecting him to be Ovechkin or Gretzky.

Please don't confuse me for a Canadiens fan. It makes me feel sick.

Yeah these forums are wildly inconsistent.

Will Nylander = 0.73 points per game after 185 games ... signed for 8.7% of the salary cap = "DuBaS gOt BeNt OvEr"
Cole Caufield = 0.68 points per game after 123 games ... signed for 9.5% of the salary cap = "WhAt A fRiGgIn StEeLl"

If Caufield starts the season with a lower SH% he's gonna have a rough year.

Remove the time with Ducharme behind the bench (what a disaster), and Caufield has scored 47 goals and 70 points in his last 82 games with MSL behind the bench. Those are the numbers to be focusing on.

Can anyone here spell cap dump?? bust-o-rama! lol jk

With Aho and Necas due for a raise next summer, it'll be way more than 18 million. MTL really screwed Carolina over with the 5 years on Aho.

Many Leafs fans are wondering today how MTL can sign their player to friendly long term contract while they can't.

Caufield and Suzuki contract will look great in 2-3 seasons when MTL is ready to compete.

I mean, come on. You can't compare contracts from a state where the maximum marginal taxe rate is under 30% to contracts awarded by a Canadian team, especially the one located in a province where the marginal taxe rate is 53,31% for every dollar earned above 235K CAD/yr. From MTL perspective, getting a full top line inked for under 20M is just shrewd business.

he can? I haven't seen him do it yet. what season did he score that many?

he was on pace for 46 goals this season, even if he slowed down a bit, he would've reached 40 on a full season

but he didnt.

Nylander only gave up 1 UFA year, Caufield gave up 3 UFA years.

Nylander likely signs for anywhere from 8M to 9.5M.

If Nylander went 8 years with 3 UFA years, his cap hit percentage would have likely been higher than Caufield's cap hit percentage. Players generally get more for giving up more UFA years vs RFA years because there is an expectation that the player can make more money as a UFA relative to their stature than they can as an RFA.

I have nothing against someone making a hockey based argument for why this contract is ill-advised. I don't think the Nylander comparison makes any sense when you actually dive into his contract and see that they are both very different contracts. The contracts people should be looking at are the numerous ones signed over the last 2 or so seasons for these stars coming off their ELCs. There are probably a dozen of them by now. They are all almost all in the 7.XXM-8.XXM 7-8 year range. There is a very established market right now.

The Josh Norris contract is the closest recent comparable in terms of trajectory, production, age, etc.

I would argue that Norris was the more valuable player at the time he signed, although it's a toss up. Also, he may not be more valuable now since he missed an entire season and there will be question marks surrounding his play. Norris gave up more UFA years (4 vs 3). Norris plays a more important position. He also is not undersized (although he isn't a big player).

The situations were very similar, in that Norris missed time due to injury in the season before he signed. Both put up huge goal paces, but didn't prove it over multiple seasons. Both were similar ages at the time they signed (Caufield will be 23 in January, Norris was 23). The only difference being, Norris did not burn the additional UFA year. Both played almost the exact same amount of games, with a very similar goal pace (34 per 82 for Norris, 35 per 82 for Caufield).

Caufield got the better contract due to it being front loaded and buying up 1 less UFA year, but the AAVs are almost exactly the same.

Tbf that 46 goal pace came off of just a 28 xGoal pace. Only Jared Mcann and Connor McDavid shot higher above expectation. Cole is a damn good shooter but that's likely not a sustainable way to produce