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Apr 27, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens right wing Cole Caufield (13) and defenseman Lane Hutson (48)defend against Washington Capitals left wing Anthony Beauvillier (72) during the second period in game four of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images David Kirouac-Imagn Images

Team USA Missing Canadiens' Star Duo at World Championships

Originally posted on Breakaway on SI
By Tyler Major-Mcnicol | Last updated May 18, 2025 7:00 AM ET

The American roster beat Germany 6-3 on Saturday morning, a sign of positive things to come for one of the tournament favorites.

But if you're judging their performance based on just one game of analysis, it's rather misleading, because, if anything, the United States hasn't exactly performed at the level that they have long established themselves capable of doing.

What is meant by that is they handily moved past Germany, but if you dive into their schedule with a fine-toothed comb, the cracks in the seams emerge. On May 12, the Americans were shut out 3-0 by Team Switzerland, and their 6-5 overtime finish against Norway wasn't very encouraging either.

On paper, the American squad should have no issue with any team that isn't Canada, Sweden or Finland. There are a few others too, but Switzerland and Norway aren't supposed to challenge the USA like they did.

Line ‘em up! #MensWorlds | @WinmarkResale pic.twitter.com/QNPNiTB1SS
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) May 12, 2025

The narrative that these performances indicate is that the Americans need to pull up their socks, otherwise the medal round could be a figment of their imagination. Their tidy win against Germany is rather encouraging, but their next two games (Kazakhstan on Sunday, and Czechia on Tuesday) need to show a little more than they have to this point.

With the respective NHL conference finals nearly among us, there have been plenty of potential options that have opened up for the American roster. Players that would be massive, potentially even leadership type players.

Watching the Americans play tells me they need support for their number one defenseman (Zach Werenski) and a top-six sniper.

This is where Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson enter the chat, and you need not look further than their playoff statistics from this past season. If you're not convinced by those, the Canadiens' duo of undersized American superstars were also dominant all season, en route to a wildcard clinching finish to the year.

Caufield scored 37 goals, and after a year in 2023-24, when his game underwent tremendous defensive growth, his off-puck game showed significant improvement. Caufield looked very confident. Almost like an elite player on the cusp of showing everybody how special he is.

The Mosinee, Wisconsin product scored 37-33-70 in 82 games this season for the Canadiens.

As for No. 48 on the Canadiens' blueline, the stud rookie defenseman who scored 66 points in 82 games. A near lock for the Calder Trophy, Hutson would have given a tremendous boost to the American offensive attack and defensive scheme.

Hutson is kind of like a hybrid of Quinn Hughes and Patrick Kane, though his skating isn't as dynamic and his shot needs improvement. His puck skills, vision, ability to look off defenders, and plethora of circus-style passes to burn the opposition are among the best on the Canadiens.

At the end of the day, the American squad isn't a pushover in any sense, but they would look awfully dangerous with Hutson and Caufield in the fold.

This article first appeared on Breakaway on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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