Can Cole Caufield be the Montreal Canadiens' first Rocket Richard Trophy winner and the team's most proficient scorer since Habs legends Maurice Richard and Guy Lafleur?
In the 27-year history of the NHL's Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy, which was named in honor of the Montreal Canadiens' legendary sniper, no Habs player has ever won the award that goes to the league's top goal-scorer.
That could change this year.
Before Thursday's games, Cole Caufield was in second place among all NHL goal-scorers this year with 40 goals in 66 games. That puts him only five goals behind Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon.
If Caufield catches MacKinnon and wins the Rocket Richard Trophy, he'd be the first Habs player since Guy Lafleur scored 60 goals in 1977-78 to lead the league in scoring. That would bring to mind an intriguing question: is Caufield, who also led Montreal with 37 goals last season, up there with Richard and Lafleur as the Canadiens' best goal-scorers?
Here's what's not up for debate: Caufield is Montreal's first 40-goal scorer since Vincent Damphousse posted 40 in 1993-94, and he could be the Habs' first 50-goal scorer since Stephane Richer scored 51 goals in 1989-90. Richer also scored 50 goals in 1987-88, so Caufield has to not only score another 10 goals in Montreal's final 15 games of the season to reach 50, but he also has to do it again.
So he's got a major feat in front of him if he wants to make a case for himself as one of the Canadiens' all-time greats.
Still, Caufield is only in his fifth NHL season. At 25, he's still not at his peak. And he's improved his goal totals every season since his rookie year. In fact, Caufield has nearly doubled the 23 goals he had as a rookie. In the past two years, only Leon Draisaitl and Tage Thompson have scored more.
Part of his improvement is that the Canadiens have improved. This is a better team than the one Caufield played on a couple of years ago. As the team around him continues to get deeper and more talented, Caufield's numbers will improve as well.
But it's not just that Caufield is scoring more – it's the importance of many of his markers.
Caufield has five overtime goals this year as well as nine game-winning goals. Had Caufield not scored those OT-winners and the Habs lost those games, they would not be in a playoff spot right now.
With 68 points so far, Caufield is on the verge of breaking his personal best of 70 points, a total he set last season. He likely won't match his career-best assist total of 37, but Montreal will gladly take the trade-off in a significantly higher goal total.
Caufield's ascent as one of the league's top offensive players since being drafted 15th overall in 2019 takes a good deal of pressure off his teammates. And he's still got room to grow his game. Heck, he even deserves to be on Team USA at the 2028 World Cup of Hockey and 2030 Olympics.
With that noted, we do believe Caufield is Montreal's best goal-scorer since Lafleur and Richard. That's terrific company to keep, but Caufield has earned it. And even if he doesn't get to the magic 50-goal plateau this season, we expect Caufield to get there eventually.
If he can be part of a Canadiens team that wins the franchise's first Cup since 1993, Caufield will earn a prominent place in team lore.
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