The Montreal Canadiens have recalled forward Cole Caufield from the Laval Rocket, their AHL affiliate, on Friday and assigned him to their taxi squad.
Montreal also recalled goaltender Cayden Primeau on an emergency basis.
Caufield practised with the Canadiens but the team has not officially said when he could make his NHL debut, and head coach Dominique Ducharme told reporters that the Canadiens’ salary cap situation complicates the immediate addition of Caufield to the lineup.
There are conditions that could result in his debut being soon, though. As Sportsnet’s Eric Engels noted on Twitter, if Carey Price returns against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday and both Primeau and Xavier Ouellet are sent to the minors, Ducharme would be able to insert both Caufield and Jake Evans into the lineup while having about $2,000 in cap space to spare.
Caufield, who won the 2021 Hobey Baker Award as the best player in the NCAA, was one of the most prolific scorers in college hockey this year, scoring 30 goals and adding 22 assists in 31 games for the University of Wisconsin.
In two AHL games with the Rocket, Caufield scored three goals and added an assist.