According to TSN's Insider Trading, Montreal Canadiens' right winger Cole Caufield is on the outside looking in for the 4 Nations Face-off.
There are a little over two weeks to go until the 23-man rosters for the 4 Nations Face-off have to be in and nothing is set in stone yet, but according to TSN's Insider Trading, Montreal Canadiens sniper Cole Caufield is on the outside looking in.
The right winger has had a very productive start to the season with 12 goals in 17 games and is currently tied in second place for the race to the Rocket Richard Trophy. The current leader is Florida Panthers' Sam Reinhart with 13 lamplighters with Leon Draisaitl, William Nylander, Mikko Rantanen and Caufield hot on his trail.
Still, apparently, Team USA will need more than that to give Caufield a spot on their roster. Apparently, both the Americans and Team Canada have tried to see if the roster size could be increased to 25 men, but they were told it wouldn't happen.
As the panel rightly points out, even if some players are not named to the roster, injuries are always possible and should that happen, replacement players will be called upon. Much like Martin St-Louis got his ticket for the Olympics in Sochi in 2014 after Steven Stmakos' broken leg failed to heal and Tampa Bay Lightning and Team Canada GM Steve Yzerman extended the invitation to his veteran. The initial snub eventually led to St-Louis requesting a trade to the New York Rangers.
St-Louis likes to say he's been through everything his players have been through, and the disappointment of not making your national team's roster will be no exception. Should Caufield be left out, there is no doubt his coach will be right there to tell him to keep the faith.
Hopefully for the four teams, their possible replacements will remain available rather than book themselves mid-February holidays. It will be interesting to see if Caufield and captain Nick Suzuki make the cut when the rosters are announced in early December. At this stage, it appears unlikely that Samuel Montembeault will get the call.
