Cole Caufield

Cole "Cuckfield" Caufield (born January 2, 2001) is an American professional ice hockey winger for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL).

In his first year with the USNTDP, Caufield led the combined U-17 and U-18 team with 54 goals and 26 assists, falling one goal short of Auston Matthews' single season record of 55 goals set during the 2014–15 season.

He played Bantam AAA ice hockey for Team Wisconsin and played for Stevens Point Area Senior High School (SPASH), scoring 75 goals in two seasons for a total of 145 points before joining the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (USNTDP) in Plymouth, Michigan in 2017.

On November 19, 2017, he made a verbal commitment to play collegiate hockey at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Following his rookie campaign, Caufield was selected to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team, First-Team All-Big Ten and was also the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, becoming the second Badger to win the award after Trent Frederic in 2017.

Internationally, Caufield has represented the United States in numerous tournaments including winning a gold medal at the U17 WHC, a silver and bronze medal at the 2018 U18 WJC and 2019 U18 WJC respectively, and a gold medal at the 2021 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

Caufield was born in Mosinee, Wisconsin, to a hockey-playing family.

He started skating at the age of two after seeing his older brother, Brock, skate.

In addition to ice hockey, Caufield also played baseball and football as a child.

His father, Paul, taught him to shoot from the right as he believed that right shots have an easier angle to access a goaltender's glove hand.

In the 2018–19 season, he scored 72 goals and 28 assists, overtaking Phil Kessel's all time USNTDP goal record and Matthews' single season goal record.

He was selected in the first round, 15th overall, by the Canadiens in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.

Following success with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (USNTDP), Caufield played for the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons.

Leading up to the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, Caufield was considered a top prospect and was over rated by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau amongst North American skaters.

On June 21, 2019, he was drafted 15th overall in the first round by the Montreal Canadiens.

During the summer of 2019, he attended the Canadiens' development camp.

Caufield played ice hockey for the Wisconsin Badgers from 2019 to 2021.

During his rookie season, he recorded 19 goals and 17 assists in 36 games, leading the Big Ten in goals scored and winning the Big Ten scoring title.

At Wisconsin, he won the Hobey Baker Award and was the leading goal and point-scorer for the 2020–21 NCAA season.

After his freshman year, despite the uncertainty of the 2020–21 NCAA ice hockey season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he opted to not turn professional with the Canadiens and returned for his sophomore season with Wisconsin, saying that "best thing for me was to come back, get another year, get stronger and faster and dominate more and become more of a leader".

During his sophomore season, he led the NCAA with 30 goals and 52 points in 31 games and was the first back-to-back Big Ten scoring champion.

Following his outstanding season, he was selected to the NCAA East Regional All-Tournament Team and the Big Ten All-Tournament Team.

He was also selected unanimously to First-Team All-Big Ten and as the Big Ten Player of the Year.

On April 9, 2021, Caufield was named to the AHCA First-Team All-American and won the 2021 Hobey Baker Award as the top NCAA men's ice hockey player, becoming the second Badger to win the award after Blake Geoffrion in 2010.

On March 27, 2021, Caufield ended his collegiate career, signing a three-year entry level contract with the Montreal Canadiens.

After the conclusion of his sophomore season, he was first assigned to the Canadiens' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, Laval Rocket.

He made his professional debut for the Rocket on April 9, recording two goals and one assist in a 5–3 win against the Toronto Marlies.

After playing only two games for Laval, Caufield was recalled to the Canadiens' taxi squad on April 16 and was unable to be assigned to the Canadiens' active roster due to salary cap issues.

After injuries to Paul Byron and Jonathan Drouin, on April 26, Caufield, as an emergency recall, made his NHL debut in a 2–1 victory over the Calgary Flames.

On May 1, he scored his first NHL goal in a 3–2 overtime win over the Ottawa Senators.

Two days later, in a 3–2 overtime win against the Toronto Maple Leafs, he became only the third player in NHL history to score his first two career goals in overtime.

He concluded the NHL regular season with four goals and an assist in ten games played.

After being a healthy scratch for the first two games in the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs, on May 24, Caufield made his NHL playoff debut in a 2–1 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

On June 14, he scored his first NHL playoff goal in a 4–1 Stanley Cup semifinal loss against the Vegas Golden Knights.

On June 24, he scored the go-ahead goal in the Canadiens' series-clinching win over Vegas.

In the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals, Caufield recorded three assists en route to a series loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

He ultimately appeared in twenty games with four goals and eight assists in the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Caufield entered the 2021–22 NHL season as a favorite to win the Calder Memorial Trophy.

However, he struggled midst the Canadiens' poor start, recording a single assist in his first ten games.

On November 1, he was sent down to play for the Laval Rocket, where he scored two goals and three assists in six games.