Caufield to wear No. 13 in honor of Johnny Gaudreau 

MONTREAL – When Cole Caufield pulls on his Canadiens jersey this season, it will have more meaning than ever to the Habs forward. Caufield will be paying tribute to one of his heroes and friends, Johnny Gaudreau.

After playing the first four years of his NHL career as No. 22, moving forward, he will rep No. 13 on the back of his jersey in honor of Gaudreau, who died tragically on August 29 along with his brother, Matthew.

“The last few years playing as No. 22 have been some of the best years of my life. It truly has been a dream come true and I will forever hold those memories and that number close to me. I wore No. 13 at a point in my career because of Johnny and now I will be wearing it again to honor him. 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. Rest in peace, Johnny Hockey,” said Caufield in a longer statement shared on Instagram.

Caufield and Gaudreau played together at the 2024 IIHF World Championship in Prague and Ostrava, CZE, as members of Team USA.

The former has always looked up to the latter, calling him his “hero” in an Instagram Story posted on Caufield’s personal account following the news of Gaudreau’s passing. Along with a photo of the pair sporting USA’s uniforms, he also shared an image of the two waiting for the puck to drop in a game between the Calgary Flames and the Canadiens on April 26, 2021. The significance of the moment is even greater considering it was Caufield’s first-ever NHL game.

Caufield is the ninth player in franchise history to wear No. 13. He joins Mitchell Stephens, Cedric Paquette, Max Domi, Alexander Semin, Mike Brown, Mike Cammalleri, Alex Tanguay and Edmond Bouchard.