Lost in the facts, the Montreal Canadiens are actually in the race for the playoffs, and Lane Hutson's Calder Trophy-worthy season is Cole Caufield's incredible season. Great not only because he has a career-best 32 goals but also because of how he has scored them. Right now, he's eight in goals in the league, Rocket Richard race leader Edmonton Oilers Leon Draisaitl has 47, followed by Toronto Maple Leafs William Nylander who's on 36 and in case you're interested in the Great Eight's race for the Gretzky record, Alexander Ovechkin has 33, just one more than Caufield. 

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Of Caufield's 32 goals, 10 have been scored on the power play, which would no doubt have been greater if Patrik Laine hadn't joined the Habs and been given the diminutive winger's spot of choice on the first power-play unit. Still, there were no complaints from Caufield. he moved over to the spot that was given to him and already has one more power-play goal than he did last season, which is another career-high. Meanwhile, Laine scored 12 of his 15 goals in that spot on the power play. 

Better yet, however, is the fact that in his first 30 away games, Caufield has scored 21 goals. That's an impressive stat because that's the second highest total in Canadiens history (Guy Lafleur had 25 in 1976-77, playing for the near-invincible Canadiens, who had only lost eight games that season). Who's behind him? Maurice Richard had 20 in 1944-45, and Jean Beliveau also had 20 in 1968-69. That's quite the company to be in. 

Scoring so many goals away from home shows that matchups no longer matter for the right winger. When the Canadiens are on the road, Martin St-Louis doesn't decide who the top line lines up again, but that's not an issue for the Habs' sniper. Whether he's pitted against a team's top scoring line or its shut-down line, he will score anyway. 

It is also worth mentioning that this year, Caufield has 15 power play points, down from 21 last season, yet his overall production is up. This year, he has .91 points per game, up from 0.79 last season. 

And he hasn't just improved on the attacking side of the puck either; last season, he had a minus-four rating, while this year, he has a plus-four rating. While that stat isn't always telling, it's not a coincidence that Caufield has been improving in that department every year since he came into the NHL. In his rookie season, he has a minus-24 rating. He also got a career-high in blocked shots this year, with 28; he only had 22 in 82 matches in 2023-24. 

After posting a career-low 8.9% shooting rate last season, Caufield has a 16.6% success rate when shooting, another career-high (it stood at 16.5% in 2022-23). Better yet, he's doing all this while averaging just under 18 minutes of ice time per game (he had an average of 19:25 last season). 

Whatever way you look at it, Caufield has improved this season, and there are no signs to make us believe that we've seen his ceiling yet.

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