When Marc Bergevin was asked about Cole Caufield this morning, he didn’t want to say much but his mischievous grin said it all, a signing was coming. Less than 12 hours later, Caufield has put pen to paper so to speak and is now officially a Montreal Canadien with a 3-year entry level contract.
Judging by what Marc Bergevin said to the media this morning, the organization will take the time to assess Caufield before getting him to make the jump to the NHL. While the GM called him an exceptional talent, he did say that the gap between the NCAA and the NHL is a very big one.
You can expect Caufield to serve his 7-day quarantine (this applies to college players as well, the NHL has confirmed it) and then to report to the Laval Rocket. The Canadiens have now officially confirmed that this will be the case.
If he shows that he may be ready for the NHL, he may very well be called up, but if he’s not, there’s no sense in rushing him. Caufield is a right winger and the Canadiens have a truckload of those right now...Unless of course someone gets moved to get some help on the blue line and it creates some space.
Whatever happens though, remember this: the Canadiens have just signed a goal scoring machine and even if he’s not quite ready for the big league yet, he will be well worth the wait. What a great time to be a Habs fans!