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Two assists in three games: should we be worried about Caufield’s performance at the CDM?
Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

Two assists in three games: should we be worried about Caufield’s performance at the CDM?

Originally posted on Dose.ca  |  Last updated 5/16/24

The World Championship is currently in full swing.

Slaf is doing well with Slovakia… Guhle is playing his part to perfection with Canada…

And then there’s Cole Caufield, who’s been virtually invisible since the start of the competition.

The American has picked up two assists in three games so far, even though the U.S. hasn’t faced any big countries.

The States lost their first game to Sweden… But then they played Germany and Slovakia, and the Canadian hasn’t been able to do what he does best – find the back of the net.

It seems to tickle me a little, even if the sample is small, because we know how difficult it can be on the confidence of a scorer like him.

The last thing the Habs want, after all, is for him to arrive at camp less confident next year after a tough tournament at the World Championships.

Caufield will have a chance to have some fun this afternoon, though, as his country takes on France:

The U.S.’ next opponents aren’t intimidating, and I’d like to see Caufield take advantage of them to feast offensively.

Between now and the end of the preliminary round, the Americans’ schedule looks like this:

  • Match against France today
  • Match against Poland tomorrow
  • Game against Kazakhstan on Sunday
  • Match against Latvia on Monday

We’ve seen it in Montreal this season, but Caufield tends to have more difficult sequences offensively, and he needs to avoid that right now.

I’m not ready to push the panic button just yet, but if after the next four games his performance hasn’t improved… Maybe that’ll leave more room for uncertainty than anything else.

He needs to get his mojo back, in any case.

In bursts

– Speak of the devil.

– Colleague Felix Forget wrote about this recently, but now it’s official:

– Another goal for Oliver Kapanen at the World Championship.

– That’s another way of looking at it.

– Sounds promising.

This article first appeared on Dose.ca and was syndicated with permission.

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