Canadiens’ Caufield Needs Big Week to Avoid USA 4 Nations Snub

The 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament, set to take place in Montreal and Boston, is just three months away, and teams will be finalizing their rosters in the coming weeks. With today’s depth of talent, some unexpected names might be excluded from this best-on-best competition, particularly for Team USA. So far, each of the four teams has officially announced six players for their rosters, and there’s growing speculation that Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield might be left off Team USA.

It’s hard to believe a player who scores as much as Caufield does isn’t a lock to make it, but here’s what’s been said so far.

Caufield’s Early Season Success

This season, Caufield trails only Sam Reinhart for the NHL’s top goal scorer. The Montreal Canadiens forward has been consistently finding the back of the net, despite playing on a last-place team. With 12 goals in 17 games, Caufield is proving he’s one of the game’s top finishers and showing why he was drafted by Montreal in 2019.

However, Team USA’s roster just might be a little too deep for Caufield to make. So far, forwards Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, and Matthew Tkachuk have already been selected for the Americans. Among the pool of players yet to be selected, there is still so much skill, size, and ability to play center. For those reasons, undersized wingers like Alex DeBrincat and Cole Caufield were unselected by Team USA, despite the latter having a hot start to the season.

Caufield on the Outside Looking In of 4 Nations Team

This Thursday, on TSN’s Insider Trading, Pierre Lebrun mentioned it is unlikely for Caufield to make the team. “No final decisions have been made, but my understanding is that despite a really great start to the season offensively for Caufield, he is on the outside looking in for that 23-man roster,” the NHL insider explained. “He could still make it; I was told today that it really depends on what happens in the final two weeks here. Team USA is down to four or five final decisions here as they narrow down to a 23-man roster.”

This statement shows how strong the Americans have become in the past 10 years. The selection committee will most likely go with forwards more suited for a bottom-six role, for their roster.