Montreal Canadiens' sniper Cole Caufield is having the best season of his career, and he keeps making a case for Team USA to take him to the Olympics in February.
Fresh off the end of his 11-game point streak, Montreal Canadiens’ sniper Cole Caufield got back on the scoreboard on Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The diminutive winger is enjoying the best season of his career so far with 32 points in 30 games, on pace for an 87-point season, which would be a 17-point increase on his production from last season. His 32 points are the 10th-highest total amongst American skaters, ninth amongst all forwards.
In the Habs’ latest win, he scored his 17th goal of the season and is currently on a 46-goal pace. He’s the second most productive American sharpshooter behind Dallas Stars’ Jason Robertson, tied with Matt Boldy and Dylan Larkin. His 17 goals come from just 85 shots, giving him a 20% shooting percentage.
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He also leads all American players in game-winning goals with five. Yesterday, the American national team learned that Logan Cooley, who was on the bubble to make the team, would be sidelined for at least eight weeks, which effectively rules him out of the Olympic Games.
Meanwhile, center Jack Hughes is still nursing a finger injury but has resumed skating and should be fit for the games. Hughes and Caufield played together on the US national team development program and had great chemistry.
Furthermore, Caufield shouldn’t be considered a one-trick pony, as he has made tremendous progress under Martin St-Louis’ tutelage and has become a complete player. His awareness of the forecheck is second to none, and he has learn to create opportunities from different spots on the ice.
The Canadiens’ coach has spent some time working with Caufield behind the goal line of late, and that’s exactly from where he scored his 17th goal of the season against the Penguins. There was absolutely no angle for him to shoot from, but he placed the puck inside the netminder’s left pad, and it deflected right in the net.
While the Americans clearly intend to ice a team that can play a very physical game, scoring goals remains a key factor in any tournament. In the 4 Nations Face-Off round robin, the Americans scored 10 goals in three games, which works out to 3.33 goals per game, the same average as Team Canada, but in the final, they could only find the back of the net twice and were defeated 3-2 in overtime by the Canadians.
Caufield may not be the biggest player, but he can handle himself on both sides of the puck, and he never hurts his team. If the Americans elect not to take him to the Olympic Games and end up losing for lack of scoring, it will be hard to justify that decision.
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