The loss of Cole Caufield is major for the Montreal Canadiens, but also for the fans, who now have to wait until next year before seeing their favourite player in the lineup. The Canadiens forward will have to undergo shoulder surgery and we can say goodbye to a first season of 40 goals or more from a Canadiens player since Vincent Damphousse in 1993-1994. Before the announcement that his season was over, one of the hot topics in the organization was his contract extension. With 26 goals in 46 games this season, we can expect the American forward to get a monster contract, especially if Kent Hughes wants to keep his services for the long term, which I think he absolutely should. A minimum scale was set earlier this week, as another young star player in the 2019 draft signed a huge multi-season deal with his team. The one drafted three spots ahead of Caufield in the same draft, Matthew Boldy, got a seven-year, $49M contract extension with the Minnesota Wild, or $7M per year. The number 22 of the CH himself mentioned that he wants to stay in Montreal, but that there was no urgency to get a deal quickly. <div align='center' style='padding-top:20px;padding-bottom:20px;'><img src='https://i.marqueur.com/habsetlnh/i/photo/224250.png' width='100%' border='0' alt='image' loading='lazy' defer /></div> However, since these comments were made before the announcement of his long-term injury, it is quite possible that this deal could end much sooner than expected. With Caufield set to miss the rest of the season, my gut tells me that it's possible that the contract extension is an issue that could be settled in the next few weeks, as he can no longer boost his value by breaking the 40-goal plateau and perhaps even reach the 50-goal plateau, which would have exploded his value further. We can only hope that the Habs GM can at least agree on a seven or eight year deal with him. Credit: <a href='https://www.habsetlnh.com/equipe-lnh/canadiens-de-montreal/Cole-Caufield-brise-le-silence-concernant-son-avenir-et-son-prochain-contrat-avec-le-CH' class='link_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>HabsetLNH.com</a>