A closer look at Caufield and Suzuki's elite shots

MONTREAL - There's a new breed of exciting NHL snipers taking the league by storm.

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Among them are Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki. The former has found his elite scoring touch, as evidenced by his bevy of goals since mid-February, whereas the latter has already set a new career-high in goals scored.
But what makes their shot so dangerous?
We spoke to Tim Turk, an NHL skills coach with a Ph.D. in scoring to dissect Suzuki's and Caufield's lethal shots.
Tweet from @CanadiensMTL: Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki are the Molson Cup winners for March!#GoHabsGohttps://t.co/sK7C0TD8MV
Before we dive in, we must establish one thing: what makes a great NHL shot?
According to Turk, there are many indicators. One is body position, where the hips are in relation to the shoulders. An elite NHL shooter looks like they "explode" out of their chests. That allows them to generate an incredible amount of power in conjunction with a lightning-quick release.
How fast their hands move in a short distance and the preparation of the puck are other signs of good shooting abilities.
"No matter how they retrieve the puck, it automatically goes to a prepared position, so they can manipulate it with greater ease," explains Turk. "The guys that take less place to shoot, are more deceptive and can explode in certain areas is what makes them successful."
There's also the matter of anticipating potential roadblocks, such as defensemen trying to close certain shooting lanes.
"You have to read everything and react to what [the defense] is doing," said Caufield. "Holes open up constantly because of how defensemen move their sticks."
According to Turk, stride formation, which involves a left-handed player pulling back their left leg, and vice versa, has accounted for over 70 percent of the "clean" goals since 2003.
So now that we have established what makes a good shooter, let's take a look at some of Caufield's and Suzuki's goals.
March 5, 2022, MTL@EDM: Caufield strikes first

"This, to me, is elite," said Turk. "There's a pause in the stride formation. His leg goes back, then the inward drag comes to avoid the defenseman's stick. That is unbelievable preparation by Caufield."
Caufield quickly adapts to the defenseman's changing stick position to find a little open ice in a crowded area.
But there's still the matter of generating a ridiculous amount of force into a shot, paired with a sneaky release designed to haunt a goaltender's nightmares for months at a time.
"This is a great example of him shooting off his hip, almost like a cowboy pulling a gun from his holster. It's so fast, it's incredible," said Turk. "Watch his elbow. A lot of players will pull it inward, he pulls it right beside his hip. That side action is really good. It's like a catapult, but on an angle."
Besides generating a whole lot of whip, when Caufield keeps his arms in a tight formation, it also removes an important tell. Goalies tend to recognize daylight between the forearm and bicep. This tight arm formation ensures Caufield doesn't tip off the goaltender to the upcoming shot.

Beyond a deceptive release and adapting to the situation, the cherry on top of Caufield's snipe sundae is how often he changes his shot's angle of attack. There are only slight angle changes on his stick, but it's enough to completely change the flight path which the goaltender is anticipating.
"When you pull the puck in, you don't even need to worry about shooting it hard," said Caufield. It's so hard for goalies to track that type of shot."
And finally, there's the need for pinpoint accuracy, a natural skill that can definitely be supplemented by hours upon hours of practice.
December 4, 2021, MTL@NSH: Suzuki ties it 1-1

The first thing Suzuki does is send a clear message to his teammates that he's in a perfect shooting situation.
"You can see when he circles back around, when he's reestablishing position, that he's got nothing but shot on his mind, and he makes it clear that he's the best pass option," said Turk. "If you count the time the puck was on his blade, to the time it hit the net based on where the pass came from, that's elite shooting right there. Once again, we're seeing the stride formation.
"At that level, in that situation, if you can put the puck in that spot, you're elite. The goalie had no chance."
But there's more to it than just a perfect shot.

Most shots will be stopped or blocked, which, in turn, leads to rebound opportunities. The key is anticipating an extended play beyond the initial shot.
"Even if he doesn't score, he's going to create a rebound or another high-level scoring opportunity for himself," said Turk. "He's going straight to the target. It's perfect. Suzuki is such a smart player, you see it on every play."
Suzuki uses his foresight and intelligence to not only anticipate and adapt to the coverage from the opposing defenders, he's also in a perfect position to capitalize on any opportunity that may arise.
There are certain characteristics that the next generation of NHL snipers tend to share; talent, anticipation, proper hip and shoulder position, a penchant for disguising their release, an attention to detail, and most importantly, a never-ending thirst for improvement.
It's a lot to process, which puts an onus on the player's ability to parse information while also making sure their natural talent is at the forefront of their decision-making.
Fortunately for Canadiens fans, when it comes to putting all the pieces of the sniper puzzle together, they'll have two excellent examples on display for the foreseeable future.