Team USA earlier this month announced its roster ahead of the Olympics in February. For the most part, they got the roster right, and with the players currently slated to be playing, they have a good chance at a Gold Medal.
However, one of the surprising names left off is Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield. The 25-year-old has had a great season so far with 42 points through 45 games and is well on his way to surpassing last year's total of 70, which was a career high.
Caufield's absence from Team USA could have been tied to his decision not participate in the IIHF Championship last summer. According to ESPN's Emily Kaplan, Bill Guerin had this to say last year: "We're doing things differently now, and the world championships are absolutely connected to this. If you're saying no and you don't have a legit excuse, it will hurt you."
That decision might have hurt his chances, but based strictly on talent and production, Cole Caufield should have been on the roster. He is an excellent goal-scorer who could have provided a scoring punch in 5v5 situations, but also on the power play. When looking at the Team USA roster, these are two players that Caufield would have been a better choice over.
Brock Nelson
Brock Nelson is in his first full season with the Colorado Avalanche and has bounced back in a big way with 21 goals and 16 assists. He is on pace to have a career season in terms of goals with 39, but also has a shooting percentage of 22.3%, which doesn't seem sustainable, especially in the Olympics.
Now, some may point to the size difference between the two players as Caufield is 5'8" and Nelson is 6'4". However, Nelson doesn't utilize his size very effectively at this point in his career. Through 44 games, Nelson has 22 hits and 13 takeaways, while Caufield has 33 hits and 16 takeaways.
At some point, Team USA is going to need scoring, and it would be great to have Caufield waiting in the wings compared to a player like Nelson.
J.T. Miller
J.T. Miller was part of Team USA for the 4-Nations Face-off, but he is not playing at the same level he did last season. Through 37 games, Miller has only 11 goals and 13 assists with a +/- of -15 compared to the 35 points he had on the Vancouver Canucks before the midseason tournament.
Even down the stretch last season with the Rangers, after being traded by the Canucks, he was still pretty productive with 35 points in 32 games.
At 32 years old, Miller can certainly bring some veteran leadership to the locker room, but in terms of production on the ice, it is hard to make the argument that Miller would be better than Caufield for Team USA to have.