Cole Caufield

Cole Caufield (born January 2, 2001) is an American professional ice hockey winger for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). 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 collegiately for the University of Wisconsin-Madison of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons. He won the Hobey Baker Award and was the leading goal and point-scorer for the 2020–21 NCAA season.

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 and started skating at the age of two. In addition to ice hockey, Caufield also played baseball and football as a child. His father taught him to shoot from the right as he believed that right sided shots have an easier angle to access a goaltender's glove hand. He played Bantam AAA for Team Wisconsin and Stevens Point Area Senior High School (SPASH), scoring 75 goals over two seasons for a total of 145 points before joining the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (USNTDP) in Plymouth, Michigan during spring 2017.

In his first year with the USNTDP, Caufield led the combined U17 and U18 team with 54 goals and 26 assists, falling one goal shy of matching the single season record of 55 set in 2014–15 by Auston Matthews. He likewise made a verbal commitment to play college ice hockey at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

In the 2018–19 season, Caufield scored 72 goals and 28 assists, overtaking the all-time USNTDP goal record previously held by Phil Kessel as well as Matthews' aforementioned single season goal record.

Leading up to the 2019 NHL entry draft, Caufield was considered a top prospect and was ranked eighth by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau amongst North American skaters. On June 21, 2019, he was selected in the first round (15th overall) by the Montreal Canadiens. Shortly thereafter, he attended the Canadiens' annual development camp.

Caufield played for the Wisconsin Badgers of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) from 2019 to 2021. During his freshman season in 2019–20, he recorded 19 goals and 17 assists in 36 games, leading the Big Ten in goals scored to win the conference scoring title. For his efforts, Caufield was selected to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team, All-First Team, and was also named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, becoming the second Badger to win the award after Trent Frederic in 2017.