Caufield agrees to 8-year, $62.8 million contract with Canadiens

Cole Caufield agreed to an eight-year, $62.8 million contract with the Montreal Canadiens on Monday. It has an average annual value of $7.85 million.

The 22-year-old forward could have been a restricted free agent July 1. He had 36 points (26 goals, 10 assists) in 46 games this season before it was announced Jan. 21 that he would have season-ending shoulder surgery.

"I wanted to be here," Caufield said. "I wanted to be here for a long time. I love where this organization is going. At the end of the day, both sides got what we wanted, and I couldn't be more proud."

Caufield was cleared for full activities about 10 days ago. He had been skating two or three times a week for the past five months and recently resumed shooting.

"That's been nice," Caufield said. "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."

Caufield's 26 goals were still tied with forward Nick Suzuki for the team lead. He ranked eighth with 19 even-strength points before the procedure, and his 53 goals in 123 regular-season games are second among players chosen in the 2019 NHL Draft behind New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes (87).

Suzuki agreed to an eight-year, $63 million contract ($7.875 AAV) with the Canadiens on Oct. 12, 2021.

"That's understood on both sides too," Caufield said. "That's our guy, that's our leader. It's still a heck of a lot of money, so I'm not complaining about anything like that. I'm proud to be a part of this and to do it with him along the way, that will be pretty special as well.

"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."

Selected by Montreal in the first round (No. 15) of the 2019 draft, Caufield had 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in 20 games of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when he helped the Canadiens advance to the Stanley Cup Final, a five-game loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Canadiens will have the No. 5 pick in the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft after finishing 15th in the Eastern Conference (31-45-6) and missing the playoffs in each of the past two seasons and three of the past eight. Caufield's injury was one of many, with forwards Brendan Gallagher, Sean Monahan, Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky, and defensemen Kaiden Guhle and Arber Xhekaj, each missing significant time. Goalie Video: Cole Caufield signs extension with Canadiens and forward Video: Cole Caufield signs extension with Canadiens were out the entire season.

Montreal's offense was top-heavy, with forward Josh Anderson (21) the only other skater to score at least 20 goals. The Canadiens finished 26th in scoring (2.77 goals per game) and 29th on the power play (16.1 percent).

"We're excited for this challenge," Caufield said. "You just have to trust that process. I think with the guys that we have right now, we're building something special and we're making some additions, subtractions, whatever, I think if we all buy into this process and trust in what we're doing, I think everything else will turn out the way it's supposed to."

Caufield won the 2021 Hobey Baker Award given to the top player in NCAA men's hockey when he had 52 points (30 goals, 22 assists) in 31 games as a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin. His 72 goals for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program Under-18 team in 2018-19 remain the highest single-season total in the program's history.