Rumor: Cole Caufield headed for a demotion?

It has been impossible not to notice the growing frustration of Montreal Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme this season, and you can hardly blame him. 

After an unexpected and exciting run to the Stanley Cup Final last season the Canadiens have plummeted straight to the bottom of the Atlantic Division this season. That's especially bad news for the Canadiens who have managed to collect just 4 total points in the standings, as with 10 games already under their belt they have more games played than any other team in the division so far this season.

The Habs will be looking for solutions to their terrible start anywhere they can find them, and it sounds like that could potentially mean a demotion on the horizon for Canadiens rookie Cole Caufield. 

Caufield made a quick jump to the NHL level last season coming out of the University of Wisconsin and he shined at times for the Canadiens both in the regular season and in the playoffs. Over his 20 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs Caufield impressed observers with 4 goals and 8 assists for 12 points over that stretch.

This season however has been much different. Through 10 regular season games Caufield has just a single point, an assist, and he currently boasts a plus minus rating of -3 on the season. Add to that the fact that he would see more ice time at the American Hockey League level and some have made the case that he should be sent down to Laval to play with the Canadiens' affiliate team, The Rocket.

On Sunday, Ducharme was asked point blank about the possibility of sending Caufield down this season and the Habs head coach did not dismiss the notion.

"We look at every option for every player" said Ducharme as per Marc-André Perreault.

Perreault would add that his interpretation from reading between the lines of Ducharme's comments was that Caufield being sent down this season is a real possibility. The Canadiens will want to be very careful with how they handle Caufield here, the last thing they want is a repeat of what happened with Jesperi Kotkaniemi just recently.