Cole Caufield's new Cap Hit is $4M more than his Value

The 22-year forward signs a long-term contract after a controversial season.

The Montreal Canadiens sign Cole Caufield to an 8-year contract extension at a $7.85M average annual value. Meanwhile, his Value is only $3 572 468 right now. There are the Values of other players who were also selected at the 1st Round of the NHL 2019 Draft: Jack Hughes - $7 970 115, Kaapo Kakko - $4 142 618, Kirby Dach - $2 797 666, Dylan Cozens - $4 369 315, Trevor Zegras - $4 221 486. Caufield will be able to reach a $5M Value next season based on the Values of similar youngsters.

On the one hand, Caufield is the 3rd-best Habs player in terms of Value after forwards Nick Suzuki and Mike Hoffman. He has steadily increased his Value since his NHL debut in the 2020-21 season. Winger reached +$1 939 644 in the rookie season and +$1 399 092 in his second NHL season, and deserved a place at the core of the Habs.

On the other hand, the 2022-23 season was disappointing for Caufield. He played only 46 games, had only 36 points, and missed all second-half of the season due to an injury. As a result, his Value increased only by $233 732. This is only the 14th result among all the players who were on the Montreal roster this season. So the forward will have to progress like in previous years to prove a new contract's numbers.