Montreal’s Cole Caufield is the best of a handful of college hockey stars who went from playing at the NCAA level this season to jumping right into the NHL playoffs. Caufield, Colorado’s Alex Newhook and Sampo Ranta and Florida’s Spencer Knight all made an impact on their teams at the most important time of the year. Caufield’s success at age 20 in helping the Canadiens beat Toronto and Winnipeg to advance to the third round could inspire more teams to plug new players into their lineup come playoff time. It’s the kind of spark Caufield’s college coach believes every Stanley Cup contender needs.
