Caufield was great in college. Dynamic and dominant. And he deserved the HB.
But lets not pretend like its not easier for tiny/super skilled players to thrive in the NCAA. Because it is.
Shane Pinto is tailor made for the NHL, and has less question marks. His an athletic monster. His floor is already that of a fantastic and reliable 3rd line C - like already as of today. His polish is years ahead of where it normally should be. And the ceiling is anyones guess right now. He committed to hockey at 15yrs old and has gotten exponentially better (complete game) every single year since then. Its not a good bet to take seeing as how his pro debut went, and how damn good he looked.
Random comparison here, but realistically they have the potential of being say like a Horvat and Boeser from Vancouver in terms of role, style and impact.
Boeser is closer to a true 1st line winger than Horvat is a #1C. Horvat is #2C or a 1b on a realistic contender. Thats true. Boeser has elite goal scoring ability, but clearly some questionable habits and tendencies away from the puck. Selfish tendencies.
Yet Horvat is an excellent two way player that can match up against top lines, and score 50-60pts while battling hard all over the ice. And Im positive Vancouver prefers him on the roster because hes a harder competitor, and would be more valuable/less replaceable in the playoffs over what Boeser brings.
In case people havent caught on yet, we live in a day where fast, elite. and soft 30g wingers like Mike Hoffman have far less value in the real world than HFboards typically believes they should.
Or when Taylor Hall (a younger and former 1st OV mvp) fetches less than Nick Foligno does at the TDL, and people (Hfboards) wonder why....
Think about it.