Sparkling with the Tricolore in the recent playoffs, Cole Caufield was seen as one of the favorites to win the Calder Trophy in his first full season in the Bettman circuit. However, he had a sub-par start to the campaign and was recently demoted to the AHL to regain his confidence.
How to explain such a scenario? Former NHL forward Cam Janssen has a hypothesis on the subject. On his podcast Cam&Strick with Andy Strickland, Janssen explained that Caufield's labored performance may be due to too much responsibility on his part.
"The team is different (compared to last season). He has to do more, which he is not used to. Don't get me wrong," he said.
According to Janssen, Caufield's lack of play is probably due to the fact that he has to work harder and do more "little things" than last year in order to stand out. This can be explained by the absence or departure of several big pieces of the team last season, such as Phillip Danault, Shea Weber and Carey Price, as well as by the fact that he is now closely watched by opposing defensive players, as he started the campaign on his team's first three.
Now that he's back with the Laval Rocket, the CH number 22 will be able to work without pressure on the things that differentiate promising young players from established professionals and prepare himself to eventually return to the big club.
