Next Man Up: The Cole Caufield experience

MONTREAL -- Few players have been busier in the last two years than Canadiens winger Cole Caufield.

From playing at the University of Wisconsin, where he earned almost every single award possible, including the Hobey Baker Award as the best player in college, to the World Junior Championship, then the Laval Rocket, followed by a long playoff run with the Canadiens, a tough start to the following season, another trip to Laval to regain his confidence, and finally back to Montreal, it's fair to say Caufield has had his fair share of learning experiences.
But it was his time in the AHL that helped him regain his confidence after a rough start to the year.
That confidence is the essence of what makes him a fun, energetic, exciting player that will bring Canadiens fans out of their seats for the foreseeable future.

"It's obviously tough," explained Caufield to Next Man Up, the organization's Web series dedicated to showing the behind-the-scenes realities of life with the Laval Rocket. "I mean, you expect a lot of yourself and obviously there's a lot of pressure. I got to be by myself a little bit more and really focus on that and kind of get away from everything. I was only there for a couple of weeks, but [I] learned a lot and grew as a player down there, kind of just got back to normal."
While there's no doubt instructing players to play within the confines of a system is par for the course in the hockey world, oftentimes, we must peel back the layers to allow them to feel the same freedom they enjoyed when things were going well.
"They wanted me to play free within a structure," said Caufield. "That was calming to hear. A player like me, you kind of want to be creative and do a little bit more, but just to hear them say that kind of gets your confidence back too. They believed in me down there and I think I brought that up with me here."

Caufield finished his assignment in Laval with five points in six games, owing to his success in part to Jean-François Houle's insistence on using him in key situations.
"With Cole, I think he needed to find his confidence with the puck," explained Houle. "It had been a while since he had scored a goal. Therefore, it was important for him to put more pucks on net, touch the puck more often, and have more ice time. He was given a lot of ice time throughout his six games here, on the power play, and at five on five."
Caufield's success continued in Montreal, where he flourished under Martin St-Louis in the second half of the season, scoring 23 times in 37 games, or, rather, an 847% increase upon his previous scoring rate.
Much like Houle, St-Louis gave Caufield the type of freedom that allowed him to flourish, not to mention putting him in situations that are conducive to producing points.

"I didn't really give too much advice to Cole," said St-Louis. "Rather, I put him in situations where he could play his game. To be in his preferred area on the ice, where, he likes shooting, playing with Suzuki. So, I gave him a lot of freedom in that respect, and he took that opportunity and made the most of it, and as we saw, he was, he was exceptionally good for us in terms of scoring goals and helping our offense."
Coaching is an undeniably crucial aspect to development, but when it comes to talented players, it's often important to remember that there's a reason why they made it to the best hockey league in the world in the first place.
Allowing their natural talent to shine, as was the case with Caufield, is often the best solution.
Next Man Up is available on YouTube and HabsTV.