Caufield to Attend Team USA Orientation Camp; Hutson Snubbed

About 2 weeks ago, Tony Marinaro had reported that Hutson wouldn’t be invited to USA Hockey’s camp, but it wasn’t 100% confirmed until today. It seems like a shock, but given how Team USA runs their team as well as the players they have to choose from, it makes sense.

Sadly for Hutson, his role on Team USA is almost certainly going to Quinn Hughes, who plays a very similar game to Hutson. Both players are small left-handed defensemen who are relied upon to quarterback their team’s offense, while also providing good enough defense to keep their team out of trouble. At this point, Hutson isn’t at the elite level of Hughes just yet, so it’s possible that USA Hockey feels that they don’t need another small left-handed offensive defenseman at the camp if they already know they will take Hughes, barring any injury.

If Hughes does get hurt, it would be interesting to see whether they end up circling to Hutson as a potential replacement, even if he wasn’t invited to the camp. It’s unlikely they look his way, but it’s possible that if he starts the season off hot, they may have no choice but to take him if they need a replacement for Hughes.

Looking at the roster as a whole, there is no doubt that Hutson is the biggest snub, but it really could be that with Quinn Hughes being their #1 guy, they aren’t looking to bring another similar defenseman to the camp. It just looks bad to see guys like Alex Vlasic, Jackson LaCombe and Luke Hughes, who haven’t proven as much as Hutson at the NHL level, going to the camp. Although when looking at the guys at the camp, none of Vlasic, LaCombe or Luke Hughes should make the final roster.

As for Caufield, who got an invite, it may also be hard to make the team, as it seems Team USA has a set nucleus for their top 6 forwards. As good as Caufield is as a player, due to his size and lack of a physical presence in his game, he wouldn’t fit well in a bottom-six checking role.

With that being said, he will need to beat out guys like Kyle Connor, Clayton Keller and the Tkachuk brothers, who are likely to get those top 6 spots on Team USA. Now, they may use him as purely an offensive specialist for the power-play, but when you have guys like Kyle Connor who are bigger and who can play a more defensive role if needed, the Americans are more likely to go with him over Caufield.

The good news for Habs fans is that no matter what happens with Caufield and Team USA, it will fuel him to play better. Last season, both he and Nick Suzuki weren’t named to their respective countries’ teams for the Four Nations, and it seemingly lit a fire under them. Now, on the flip side, if Caufield does get named to Team USA, it likely gives him newfound confidence, which will show on the ice, similar to how it helped Montembeault last year.

It’s good that Caufield will get his shot to make the team but we shouldn’t get our hopes up and think he’s making that team, as there just isn’t a role for him to make Team USA, in my opinion. If anything, it was more likely that Hutson could have made the team, as Team USA is stacked at the forward position.

Click here to read about the three Habs players invited to Canada’s Olympic Orientation Camp.