Canadiens’ Caufield set on playing himself on to Team USA for 4 Nations Face-Off

”It’s all about how you play this year, and that should say enough.” —Cole Caufield

BROSSARD, Que. — Here’s a scenario Cole Caufield doesn’t want to entertain but one he knows might come to life when Team USA’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off gets submitted in early-December: He’s still leading the NHL in goals in late November, but he misses the cut.

It would be a striking omission, wouldn’t it?

Then again, as Caufield was saying on Wednesday, before his Montreal Canadiens took off for a two-game road trip through Washington and Pittsburgh, some of the names left off that list are going to be as notable as the ones on it.

“It’s pretty crazy,” the 23-year-old started. “You look up and down the roster, there’s going to be many guys left off the team that you’d be shaking your head at.”

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We’ve run through the same exercise most people have by now — penciling in line combinations — and the names we left our list had us questioning ourselves.

Auston Matthews, Matthew Tkachuk and Jack Eichel have already been locked into place by general manager Bill Guerin and assistant GMs Chris Drury, Tom Fitzgerald and Bill Zito. It’s unimaginable that Jason Robertson, Brady Tkachuk, Jack Hughes, J.T. Miller and Dylan Larkin won’t be joining them up front. And that leaves just a few spaces for some of the best players in hockey.

Imagine Guerin has to tell Matt Boldy — his player with the Minnesota Wild, who has four goals and 11 points through nine games after leading the USA in last spring’s World Championship of Hockey with six goals and 14 points in eight games — that he’s not taking him?

“He’s a very simple, straightforward, hard-working player with underrated skill,” said Caufield, who was chosen three spots after Boldy went to the Wild 12^th overall in the 2019 Draft. “He can play with anyone, he’s good in the D-zone, O-zone, he protects pucks, has a great shot and has great vision.”

Sounds like the type of player any championship team would need.

But Boldy is competing with Chris Kreider, Jake Guentzel, Vincent Trocheck, Clayton Keller, Kyle Connor, Brock Boeser, Luke Tuch, Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat, Tage Thompson, Shane Pinto and Caufield for one of those last spots, and you have to think it’s going to be a dogfight right to the end.

Caufield is hopeful that’ll be the case — that the most relevant factor of all the ones that go into the decision-making process for Guerin and Co., will be who’s playing best in the lead up to the tournament.

It’s what makes what Caufield is doing right now crucial.

Nine goals in 10 games to open the season for a share of the league lead (with New Jersey’s Nico Hischier) forces Guerin and the brass to look his way. Maintaining that type of pace would make it extremely hard for them to avert their eyes.

It helps that this isn’t just some hot streak, despite Caufield’s exceptionally high shooting percentage.

We’re talking about a player who’s filled the net at every level — and one who’s filled out his game since arriving in the NHL in 2021.

“He’s dynamic,” said Canadiens teammate Brendan Gallagher. “I think, when Cole came into this league, he was instantly a factor, but there were some areas that I think he wanted to work on.

“You’re seeing the improvements now. He’s able to score in all situations: special teams, off the rush, in-zone play; there’s not a time he’s not dangerous. Having a guy like that on your team is not something a lot of teams can say they have. He makes a big difference for us, and, obviously, you see that game after game with him finding ways to put pucks in the net. That has its impact, but I think he’s doing a lot more than that.”

That’s been the case dating back to the start of last season.

It ended with Caufield registering nine more assists (37) than goals (28) to prove he’s more than just a sharpshooter.

As for the beginning of this season, Caufield thinks his all-around game is just starting to come.

“I feel like it’s just all right right now,” he said. “Obviously, scoring goals helps confidence-wise and playing with your touches and stuff like that, but I think I can always win more battles.”

Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis didn’t disagree, saying before Tuesday’s game against the Seattle Kraken that Caufield was entrenched in the same process as the rest of his teammates — to shore up the defensive details and bring their games to a level he’d find satisfactory.

On Wednesday, St. Louis said Caufield could score more, too.

“I still think that Cole leaves stuff on the table,” he said. “I think he should have more goals. It’s not about shooting more, it’s about where he goes on the ice. I’m happy he’s off to a good start scoring-wise, but I think he’s got more there.”

Caufield, who’s scored in seven of 10 games, didn’t disagree.

“There’s some goals left out there by me, too,” he said. “I’d like to bear down and get those in and give us a better chance to win.”

But the Wisconsinite’s commitment to working on it is part of what makes him a special player.

That’s what Team USA will need — special players who don’t settle for just being great but aim to be the best.

St. Louis believes Caufield is one of them.

“He loves the game,” the coach said. “He loves hockey, he’s very hungry, he wants to be the guy, and he works on his craft. He shoots a lot of pucks in practice, and he scores in practice. If you want to score in games, score in practice. I think his confidence is usually in a good place because he takes care of his own confidence. Being confident is knowing that you’re prepared, and you’ve done all your reps, so when you get there and get an opportunity in games, you’re confident because you know you prepared for that opportunity.”

Caufield is preparing to prove he’s worthy of the opportunity to represent his country once again.

He’s already enjoyed considerable success in that capacity — he has gold, silver and bronze medals and 33 goals and 54 points in 40 games wearing the Stars and Stripes from the under-17s through the last world championship, where he had four goals and four assists in eight games — and he’s striving for more.

Caufield is committed to doing everything it takes on his end to make it happen, but he knows there are no guarantees it’ll be enough.

“That’s just how it is, and I think that’s good for USA Hockey as a whole,” Caufield said. “The competition level is growing every year, and that’s huge for us. It would be a huge team to make, and that’s the goal, but I’m just focusing on myself and playing well and doing the best I can.”

What he’s doing, above all else, is scoring at a pace almost no one projected to be on that roster is so far.

Keeping it up will be essential, and there’s reason to believe he can.

Even if Caufield’s shooting percentage drops from an obscenely high 30 per cent all the way down to 14 per cent (which is what he shot at through his first three seasons combined before only scoring on 9.2 per cent of his shots in 2023-24), he’d still be on pace for over 40 goals this season. And that’s assuming he doesn’t shoot at a higher frequency than he has so far (three shots per game).

Gallagher believes in Caufield’s ability to do that, and much more, making his candidacy for a job with USA as legitimate as it gets.

“I think Cole belongs on that team,” Gallagher said. “He’s dynamic, he’s a threat, and I’d be happy to see him represent his country there.”

It would be a dream come true for Caufield, who’s doing everything he can to play his way on to arguably the most loaded roster in the tournament.

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