The Montreal Canadiens now have a second prospect taking part in the 2021 World Junior Hockey Championships as Cole Caufield was named to Team USA.
Kaiden Guhle was the first Montreal Canadiens prospect to join the World Junior Hockey Championships being named to Team Canada. The second wasn’t too much of a surprise as he was on the team last year, but Cole Caufield will be joining his organizational teammate in Edmonton in the upcoming tournament for Team USA.
Caufield has had a solid start to his sophomore year at the University of Wisconsin. In 10 games, the 2019 first-round pick has 6 goals and 6 assists for a total of 12 points. And these helpers aren’t you ordinary “they just deflected or got the rebound on one of my shots” assists. Caufield is growing as a playmaker equally as well as he can shoot the puck and it’s helping to develop his overall game.
The next challenge is the international stage amongst his peers.
Similarly to when a drafted prospect returns to their respective junior clubs, organizations want to see that player dominate against others their own age. That is a tell-tale sign of their abilities and likelihood to push the envelope when facing stronger competition. Unfortunately, Caufield didn’t do that last year.
Team USA finished second in their group going 2-1-1 for 9 points in 4 games. They advanced to the Quarterfinals losing to Finland in a 1-0 hockey game. Caufield didn’t stand out as much on the ice or on the score sheet relative to his teammates. He had a single goal and added another assist in his five games at the tournament. Out of all, the playoff round loss to Finland should’ve stung the most. A scoreless hockey game for a player of his talent definitely left a sour taste in his mouth and the goal is to change that flavour this year.
The tournament kicks off December 25th and this could be a good opportunity to show the Montreal Canadiens what he has. Caufield was left in the NCAA as Marc Bergevin felt he could use another year to grow. That could be different this time around.
The Habs are heading into an era where killed players are entry-level contracts are going to be key. At the same time, with expanded roster spots, there is room for more names to join the club for the remainder of the season. Having a standout performance at the World Juniors will be a way for Cole Caufield to prove to the Montreal Canadiens that he should one of those names.