LAVAL-SUR-LE-LAC, Quebec -- Cole Caufield will start training camp on time for the Montreal Canadiens after recovering from shoulder surgery.
The 22-year-old forward hasn't played since a 6-2 loss to the Florida Panthers on Jan. 19.
"It feels better than it did before, I can tell you that," Caufield said at the Canadiens golf tournament Monday. "So, I'm really excited, ready to go, and it feels 100 percent."
Caufield had 36 points, including tying center Nick Suzuki for the Canadiens lead with 26 goals, despite only playing 46 games last season.
"It's been a long summer and I'm just happy to be back," Caufield said.
Caufield and forward Juraj Slafkovsky are among a group of more than 40 players who have gathered in Montreal in recent weeks to work out at the practice facility in Brossard, Quebec, ahead of training camp.
"I think it shows that they want to be here, that they understand it's a big year for us as we move forward here," Canadiens executive vice president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton said. "It's a good young group of players. Where they're going? We're all excited to see where that's going to be. I think they see that, and they want to be together, and you look around the League and I don't think necessarily 32 teams have 40 guys in a month before camp on their own when they don't have to be here.
"That commitment from the players shows a lot to us."
Slafkovsky, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, had 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 39 games before a knee injury ended his rookie season Jan. 15.
"I actually can't wait," Slafkovsky said. "It's been nine months or something so it's been a long time and I miss playing, so I can't wait."
The Canadiens (31-45-6) were decimated by injuries and finished last in the Atlantic Division for the second straight season, again missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs after they advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, when they lost in five games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
"I know that everybody would like us to say the P word (playoffs) and do this and keep going that way," Gorton said. "For us, internally, I've said this since I got here, we're going to try to get better every day. And I know it's a cliche, and I'm sorry for that, but that's how we're going forward. That's what we want. We have a lot of young players that have some room to grow and we're going to give them that room."
Although forward Christian Dvorak, who had knee surgery March 15, still needs to be medically cleared, defenseman Arber Xhekaj has recovered from shoulder surgery he had March 1 and did not hesitate to mention the "P word."
"I think we're young, but I think we got all of our first years out of the way last year and we've got some experience now," Xhekaj said. "So, that's our goal this year, is to make the playoffs every year."
