Cole Caufield was the best player on the board when the Montreal Canadiens selected him 15th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft. All he did before he was drafted was score goals, something that continued after he was drafted, but he’s a lot more than just a goal scorer.
That improvement and development of his all around game is what puts him squarely in the second spot in this ranking.
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Caufield’s season was a great one. He won the gold medal at the World Juniors, the Hobey Baker Award as the best player in NCAA men’s hockey, and his short AHL stint where he had three goals in two goals led to a stint on the Canadiens taxi squad where he sat and learned until his NHL debut.