from Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News,

Before Cole Caufield was the 5-foot-7 record-breaking goal scorer who skyrocketed up NHL Central Scouting's pre-draft rankings, he was an even smaller 16-year-old who failed to score a goal during five games at USA Hockey National Team Development Program's evaluation camp in March 2017.

"I don't think he did that once at the program," said Jack Hughes, Caufield's teammate, with a smile Saturday in Harborcenter.

Hughes and Caufield can now laugh about that rigorous camp. The former is a candidate to be selected first overall in the NHL draft by the New Jersey Devils in Vancouver on June 21, while the latter scored 156 goals over two years with NTDP, which was the talk of this week's scouting combine in Buffalo.

Caufield, Hughes, center Trevor Zegras, center Alex Turcotte and winger Matthew Boldy are all expected to be drafted among the top 10 picks, while defenseman Cam York and goalie Spencer Knight could also be chosen in the first round.

They became the faces of a player development model that is now regarded as one of the best in the world, one that produced 85 players across 29 NHL teams this season.

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