Who is the Player to Watch against Montreal Canadiens?
Cole Caufield is widely considered to be the Canadiens' player to watch for Montreal's franchise. Let's break down how he could impact the Rangers on ice and what to look out for in tonight's game.
The New York Rangers (4-0-1, 9 points, No. 2 Metro) pay a visit north of the border on Tuesday to play the Montreal Canadiens (2-3-1, 5 points, No. 6 Atlantic).
This is also the first meeting between the two teams this season, with the Rangers taking the win in their latest game against the opponent — 5-2 on April 7, 2024.
The road contest is slated to start with a 7:15 p.m. EST puck drop. But with the matchup rapidly approaching, who is the player to watch on the Canadiens side of the ice?
Us here at Blue Line Station are easily going to give that title to winger Cole Caufield. Let's break down his play style and see how he could impact the Blueshirts on ice.
Cole Caufield
Despite his size — 5-foot-7, 162 lbs — Caufield is the leading goal scorer for Montreal with six so far this campaign.
He was the No. 15 pick by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2019 NHL Draft and signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Canadiens on March 27, 2021.
More recent, he agreed to an eight-year, $62.8 million contract to stay with the Canadiens on June 5, 2023, in lieu of becoming a restricted free agent.
He has also won the Hobey Baker Award in 2021. The accolade is given to the player voted as the top men's player in NCAA Division I ice hockey.
This was due to his stellar sophomore campaign at Wisconsin. During this year, he led NCAA Division I in goals (30), points (52), power-play goals (11), power-play points (24) and shots on goal (165) and was named Big Ten Player of the Year. The Wisconsin native also scored five points (two goals, three assists) in seven games to help the United States win the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship.
While one of the more younger players Blue Line Station has named as the opposing player to watch, these young guys have plenty of drive and talent.
Caufield scored his first NHL goal May 1 against the Ottawa Senators. His first goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs came on June 14, a 4-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game One of the Stanley Cup Semifinals.
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New York Rangers Projected Lineup
Artemi Panarin - Vincent Trocheck - Alexis Lafreniere
Chris Kreider - Mika Zibanejad - Reilly Smith
Will Cuylle - Filip Chytil - Kaapo Kakko
Adam Edstrom - Sam Carrick - Jonny Brodzinski
K'Andre Miller - Adam Fox
Braden Schneider - Jacob Trouba
Ryan Lindgren - Victor Mancini
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup
Cole Caufield - Nick Suzuki - Juraj Slafkovsky
Alex Newhook - Kirby Dach - Joel Armia
Josh Anderson - Jake Evans - Brendan Gallagher
Emil Heineman - Christian Dvorak - Oliver Kapanen
Mike Matheson - Justin Barron
Lane Hutson - Logan Mailloux
Jayden Struble - David Savard
Samuel Montembeault
Cayden Primeau
The game will be streamed via ESPN+ and be sure to tune into our Twitter for live updates.