Montreal Canadiens prospect Cole Caufield was a steal of a pick at 15th overall in 2019. He showed an unparalleled ability to put pucks in the net during his draft season, and the Habs were quite fortunate to have him fall all the way to the middle of the first round.
Since being drafted, Caufield has been playing college hockey at the University of Wisconsin for the Badgers.
He had a great freshman season in 2019-20, proving any doubters wrong that his size would hold him back at the college level. Caufield scored 19 goals and 36 points in 36 games in his first season with the Badgers.
This year, he has been much, much better. While Caufield was named to the Big Ten Conference All- Rookie Team, First All-Star Team, the conference Rookie of the Year and scoring champion, his play this year has him eying even more impressive hardware. The Canadiens prospect has to be a favourite to win the Hobey Baker Award as the country’s best player this season.
Caufield absolutely destroyed the Michigan State Spartans this weekend. He scored a goal and added two assists on Friday night and last night scored twice while setting up the Badgers only other two goals in a 4-1 win.
That seven point weekend has him up to 14 goals and 14 assists for 28 points in 18 games so far this season.
The 14 goals puts him two ahead of anyone else in the country. Matthew Cooperud is in second place and he has played one more game than the Habs 20 year old prospect. Caufield is technically tied for first in points with 28, but he has ten more goals than Odeen Tufto who has had some big nights against weaker competition like Holy Cross and St Lawrence.
Caufield plays in the much more competitive Big Ten Conference, and is still lighting up the scoreboard on a nightly basis. In his last ten games, Caufield has ten goals and ten assists for 20 points. He has ten more regular season games remaining this season and would finish with a point per game on the season even if he doesn’t get another point.
While Caufield has garnered plenty of attention since being taken in the first round, he continues to exceed expectations and is now the highest scoring player in college hockey. It shouldn’t be long before he is scoring goals for the Montreal Canadiens.