For anyone who thinks Caufield is ho-hum and not translatable in the NHL, read this for some perspective.
Cole Caufield: The NTDP Scoring Machine
After all, he set the NTDP record for career goals, tallying 126 over the course of his two seasons with the program. He bested the previous mark of 104, which was set by Phil Kessel (2003-05).
He shattered the single-season goals record with 72, eclipsing the previous mark of 55 which was set by Auston Matthews in 2014-15.
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/26586847/caufield-tops-kessel-u18-goal-scoring-record?platform=amp
The highly-touted NHL draft prospect scored two goals in USA's 7-1 win over Latvia to run his tournament total to 11, surpassing
Phil Kessel and
Brett Sterling's previous record of nine goals. Caufield has appeared in just four games in the tournament. Kessel and Sterling scored nine in six and eight games, respectively.
"It's a pretty special feeling," Caufield told ESPN after the game. "Any time you get to break a record like that, it's special."
Caufield is tied with
Nikita Kucherov and
Ilya Kovalchuk for second for the overall single-tournament scoring record. Assuming Team USA advances to the medal games, he will have three more games to challenge
Alex Ovechkin's single-tournament record of 14, which has stood since 2002.
You don’t score at this rate, this consistently, obliterating records from very high end NHL talents and being right up there with others because you’re a one trick pony.
Caufield is elite. He was elite his entire career and will be elite in the NHL when he gets there. Anyone saying he won’t has literally zero ground to stand on and Caufield will only get bigger, more solid and his shot will only improve in strength and accuracy. Be happy for one. We have a legitimate no. Sniper who miraculously fell to us at 15.