"He's so contagious": Canadiens coach St. Louis has high praise for Caufield

Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis joined the Spittin’ Chiclets Podcast on Tuesday in an excellent interview that reflected on both his playing days as well as his current coaching career.

St. Louis raved about his experience so far in the season and a half that he has spent behind the Canadiens bench. While he was very complimentary towards a number of individuals throughout the interview, one in particular that he had a lot of praise for was Cole Caufield.

“The thing with Cole is he’s so contagious,” St. Louis said. “His enthusiasm is off the charts. He just comes to the rink with positive energy. I’m proud of what Cole has done since I’ve been there. I can’t say that it’s my doing.”

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While St. Louis remained modest, many would suggest he has had a ton to do with Caufield’s emergence. Before St. Louis was hired, Caufield was struggling immensely with Dominic Ducharme behind the bench, scoring just one goal through the first 27 games of the 2021-22 season. He quickly thrived under St. Louis, finishing the year with 22 goals in his final 37 outings.

“I know he’s not a finished product, I know there’s holes in his game,” St. Louis explained. “Every young 21, 22-year-old has holes in their game. I had plenty of holes in my game.”

St. Louis, who like Caufield was an undersized forward that learned how to produce offensively at the NHL level, believes he can turn the 22-year-old into more of a complete player.

“I’m not going to teach Cole how to score goals,” St. Louis said. “Can I help him in getting more scoring chances? I think I can. Can I round out his game? Yeah, for sure.”

The two have seemingly had a great relationship since St. Louis took over as head coach. Caufield’s confidence has noticeably grown in his time under St. Louis, and even with an injury limiting him to just 46 games last season, he still managed to score 26 goals. The skill level is obvious, and playing under a coach in St. Louis who can relate to him, he has the potential to become one of the game’s most dangerous offensive weapons in the coming years.

The sky is the limit for @colecaufield. @mstlouis_26 joined us to discuss.

📺: https://t.co/Mu65lcjJJP pic.twitter.com/s7Kl0NJywE

— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) May 30, 2023