*Photo from Bucky's 5th Quarter*
The beginning of the offseason means it's extension season. The Montreal Canadiens and RW Cole Caufield have agreed to a 8 year, $62.8 million contract extension, according to an announcement by the Canadiens.
The 22 year old Caufield was a pending RFA and is now locked up through his remaining RFA seasons and the start of his UFA years. His contract carries a $7.85 million AAV and he has a $5 million signing bonus in 2023-2024 and 2024-2025. He has a modified no trade clause for the final 3 seasons, which is a 15 team no trade list.
Caufield said of agreeing to his extension that "My side, their side, it's all been handled very well very professional. With the injury, I didn't really expect anything to happen right away, and we just knew both sides wanted to be there in long term too, so I couldn't be more excited. I think it all worked out."
Last season was Caufield's second full season in the league. He scored 26 goals, tied for the team lead with captain Nick Suzuki. He also dished out 10 assists, posting a -10 rating while averaging 18:03 of ice time per game in 46 games before undergoing season ending surgery on his shoulder.
Caufield said of recovering from his injury and the surgery "That's been nice. It's been it's been a long journey for me. It's been tough at times, but at the end of the day we're cleared now. I really look forward to having this full summer to make sure I'm back to 100 percent. The way things are going right now, I'm not too worried at all."
The former first round pick has played parts of 3 seasons in the NHL. In that time, Caufield has amassed 53 goals and 31 assists, averaging 16:58 of ice time per game while posting a -35 rating in 123 regular season games. Caufield played in Montreal's run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, scoring 4 goals with 8 assists in 20 playoff games.
With Caufield now signed, forward Denis Gurianov is now the Canadiens most notable pending RFA is forward Denis Gurianov. The Canadiens have the 5th overall pick in the upcoming NHL Draft in Nashville at the end of the month.
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