For the 2017–18 season, Caufield joined the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in Plymouth, Michigan. He led the NTDP with 54 goals in combined stats of both U-17 & U-18 play, falling just shy of Auston Matthews' 55 goals from 2014–15. During the 2018–19 season, Caufield played full-time on the NTDP U-18 roster. On March 15, 2019, in a 12-4 win against the Green Bay Gamblers, he scored a career-high six goals. This game also marked Caufield's 105th career goal overtaking Phil Kessel's previous record set from 2003–05. On April 13, 2019, he scored his 56th goal of the season in an exhibition game against Switzerland surpassing a single season record for goals. Caufield finished the season with 72 goals, having career averaged 1.46 points per game. On November 19, 2017, he committed to play collegiate hockey in the NCAA for the University of Wisconsin–Madison beginning in the 2019–20 season. Caufield was considered a top prospect among North American skaters entering his draft year, and would earn an A rating by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. On June 21, 2019, he was drafted 15th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
International play
Caufield represents the United States national team. During the 2017–18 season, he participated in several international tournaments under the age of 17, including the 2017 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, where he tallied 13 points in six games to win a gold medal. He would also be named to the tournament All-star team, and led the competition in goals. At the 2017 Four Nations Cup in Veliky Novgorod, Russia, Caufield appeared in three games, notching six goals and one assist, while the NTDP U-17 finished first. In February 2018, he led the team with 10 points in four games at the 2018 Five Nations Cup in Järvenpää, Finland, enroute to another NTDP U-17 first place finish. At the 2018 IIHF World U-18 Championship, the NTDP would settle for a silver medal after losing the final game to Finland 3-2. Caufield closed the tournament with six points in seven games. For the 2018–19 season, Caufield would continue his stellar play internationally. In late 2018, the NTDP U-18 claimed the 2018 Five Nations Cup in Kravaře, Czech Republic, with Caufield notching seven goals and two assists in four games. The NTDP U-18 finished third in the tables of the 2019 Five Nations Cup in Sochi, Russia, where Caufield registered three goals and two assists in four games. On April 23, 2019, Caufield scored his 10th and 11th goal for the NTDP in just four games of preliminary round at the 2019 IIHF World U-18 Championship, breaking a record set by both Brett Sterling in 2002 and Phil Kessel in 2005. On April 27, 2019, Caufield tied Alexander Ovechkin's single tournament goals record and inscribed his 18 career goals in the national record book of the tournament. The NTDP would eventually lose their semi-final matchup to Russia 3-2 in a shootout, with the NTDP claiming a bronze medal in a 5–2 win over Canada to close their tournament play. Caufield was named the MVP of the championship, as well as Best Forward. Finally, he led the competition in goals and was named to the tournament All-star team.
Personal life
Cole Caufield is a native of Mosinee, Wisconsin. His older brother, Brock, also plays for the Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey team. Their father, Paul Caufield, born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, played for the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point from 1988–92 and remains the team's all-time leading scorer. He returned to UWSP in 2002 to work as an assistant coach, but resigned in 2006 to assume his current position as manager of Ice Hawks Arena. Their grandfather, Wayne Caufield, a member of the Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame since 2011, played semi-professional hockey from 1963–76 for numerous teams, most notably the USHL'sMilwaukee Admirals, and spent over two decades coaching youth hockey and managing hockey clinics in the Milwaukee area following his retirement. He died on July 13, 2018.
