A publication from the NHL involving Caufield and Slafkovsky sparks reactions
Despite the Canadiens finishing 28th overall for the second year in a row, there has been progress, and Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky are part of it.
Notably, most of the team's best players stayed healthy for 82 games, making a real difference.
Michael Matheson finished 9th among league defensemen with 62 points, and the entire first line played 82 games, allowing Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkovsky to reach personal bests in terms of points.
Speaking of Cole and Juraj, they have greatly improved their play on both ends of the ice, but there is a small caveat in each case.
For Caufield, being the club's top scorer with 28 goals didn't seem enough. Everyone expected more, and I'm sure he did too.
For Slafkovsky, the first three months of the season were more challenging, but he finished the season very well. He will undoubtedly want to be more consistent throughout next season.
The NHL released a post about these two players, asking who has the better chance of achieving an impressive milestone next season:
- Cole Caufield scores 40 goals in 2023-25
- Juraj Slafkovsky reaches 80 points this year
- NHL"
Responses and comments are mixed, but in my opinion, it would be surprising if either reached this mark this year.
Scoring 40 goals in the NHL is very impressive, and Cole is capable of doing it, but if he scores 35 and continues to progress, that will already be very good.
For Juraj, he has just over 100 games of NHL experience. He is very good and will get even better, but approaching a point per game is a lot to ask for a 20-year-old.
However, if the NHL had asked if Cole will reach 40 goals in his career and if Slaf will reach 80 points one day, then I would say yes, absolutely.
| POLL | ||
Do you think Cole Caufield will score 40 goals this year? | ||
| Yes | 183 | 68.8 % |
| No | 83 | 31.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
