Trevor Zegras makes bold prediction for Cole Caufield's rookie season

Montreal Canadiens rookie sniper Cole Caufield is going to be an interesting player to watch in 2021-22 after scoring 4 goals and 5 points in 10 games at the end of last season in his first look at the NHL level.

Caufield saw a slight jump in production in the playoffs as well, despite the fact that he is diminutive in stature and isn't exactly the prototypical playoff build. In 20 games during the Habs' Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Finals, the 5'7" Caufield notched 4 goals and 12 points, performing well above expectation for a rookie skater.

The 20-year-old sniper has received a huge vote of confidence coming into the 2021-22 season in the form of a tweet from 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship Team USA teammate and top Ducks prospect Trevor Zegras, who feels that Caufield is about to blow the doors off of the competition in his rookie season.

"40 goals for @colecaufield," said Zegras in a quote tweet from the NHL's official Twitter account after the league sent out a tweet fishing for hot takes for the upcoming season.

Caufield and Zegras are quite familiar with one another, having come up in the U.S. National Development program in 2017-18 and again in 2018-19. They also captured World Junior gold this past January in the Edmonton bubble.

While Caufield certainly has an elite shot, it is unclear how he will fare in his first full 82-game season in the NHL. The rigorous schedule is not easy to play through, and while the early results are quite encouraging, not many players hit the 40-goal plateau in a full season - let alone a rookie.

Nevertheless, if he receives time in the Canadiens' top six and on the team's top power play unit, Caufield certainly has the finishing ability to make a run at it.

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