2. Cole Caufield
Despite standing at just 5-foot-7, Cole Caufield has proven he can excel at every level to this point in his career. First came the USHL as a 17-year-old, where he scored an incredible 18 goals in 21 games. Then came his first season of college hockey this year with the University of Wisconsin, where he put up 19 goals and 36 points in 36 games at just 19-years-old.
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Simply put, Caufield can flat out play. He has already announced that he will return to Wisconsin for the 2020-21 season, and you can expect to see an increase on his already impressive stats from this past year. Soon enough, the talented American forward will likely be putting up big numbers at the NHL level as well.
1. Alexander Romanov
Early on, it looks as though the Montreal Canadiens may have struck gold when they selected Alexander Romanov with the 35th pick at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. The talented young Russian has spent the last two seasons in the KHL with CSKA and is expected to come to North America for the 2020-21 season. His numbers in the KHL may not look overly impressive, as he put up just seven assists in 43 games this year.
One important thing to remember however is that Romanov is just 20-years-old. Many players that age are still playing junior or college level hockey. A better indication of how truly talented this young man is can be seen by looking at his World Junior stats in both the 2019 and 2020 tournaments. In a combined 14 games, he scored two goals and put up 14 points. There is a reason some are comparing him to L.A. Kings defenseman Drew Doughty.