With the Badgers having practiced several times throughout the month, Granato has already had an opportunity to see the 15th-overall pick in 2019 up close and believes he lives up to his reputation.
"When the puck gets on his stick around the net, it's generally in the back of the net. His ability to score, his ability to get open and get available to be in a scoring area is elite-level. His competitiveness is something I knew about before we started these practices, just from watching him the past couple years with the US team and watching him at international competitions," outlined Granato, who was especially impressed with Caufield's work ethic. "He didn't get this good by being a perimeter player or just feeling his way into it. This kid's a competitor, he's a worker. He wants to be first in line in drills; he always wants to do one more. He's been a pleasure to be around."
Fans who are able to make it to the UBC-UW games will certainly be able to see a lot of Caufield for themselves, according to Granato.
"He's going to play a lot. He's going to have a great opportunity to get lots of ice time. Turcotte and [Linus] Weissbach will probably be the line he starts with. At some point [Dylan] Holloway will be on the ice with him," explained Granato, the 1997 Bill Masterton trophy winner. "Cole is going to get a great opportunity to show his skill. We're coming out to Vancouver for lots of reasons, team building being one of them. But there are two games in there that we want to play well and have a good showing in. We're going to get our freshmen lots of ice and give them a chance to get their feet wet playing college hockey."