Cole Caufield played with Johnny Gaudreau for the USA at this year’s World Championship. That’s just part of the reason that the star Canadiens winger is changing his jersey from No. 22 to No. 13 to honor him following his death last week, he said in a touching message on his personal Instagram account Tuesday night.
“Getting to play with your hero is something that most people only dream of,” Caufield said. “I was lucky enough to be Johnny’s teammate this past summer and it didn’t take long to realize how great of a person he was. He was the most welcoming, genuine, and funniest guy I have ever met. He was someone everyone gravitated towards and I took every chance I could to be around him. Not only was he an amazing hockey player and teammate, but he was down to earth and truly cared about every person he encountered.”
“I wore #13 at a point in my career because of Johnny and now I will be wearing it again to honor him,” he continued. “He paved the way for smaller players and proved we had a future in this game at the highest level. I will forever be grateful to him for inspiring me and others.” Caufield wore No. 13 while in the U.S. National Development Team Program from 2017 to 2019.
Here’s more on the Canadiens:
- Watch for Lane Hutson to break through the Canadiens’ logjam of young defensemen during training camp, opines NHL.com’s Dan Rosen. The diminutive 20-year-old is a dark horse to make the opening night roster if he can “prove his size won’t be a detriment” when given a long look with the team’s veterans later this month, Rosen writes. Hutson turned pro at the tail end of last season after playing a starring role on Boston University’s blue line for two years, recording two assists in his first two NHL games – both against the Red Wings in April – while averaging nearly 23 minutes per night.
- New Canadiens winger Patrik Laine is also among Rosen’s top candidates for a rebound campaign this year after being significantly affected by injuries in 2023-24, he wrote in the same mailbag. He shares the opinion many others, including Montreal’s front office, has – that the 2016 second-overall pick can return to being a 40-goal threat if given the runway and health. The latter has seemingly been a bit of a curse for the Habs over the past few years, though. They lost nearly 400 man games to injury last season and lost a league-leading 600 in 2022-23, per NHL Injury Viz.
Very classy move by Cole Caufield to honor Johnny. I hope Michel Lacroix gives him a special intro for the home opener. That would be cool.
I like it too. Have thought highly of Caufield since seeing him come into the league, and this seems to fit and also add some depth to the lucid, engaged player he’s continually shown himself to be. Really nice gesture to honor Johnny and remind himself and others of how profoundly we can impact one another, and also place emphasis on those personal aspects of life where sincere encouragement occurs.