The Buffalo Sabres agreed to a contract extension with free-agent forward Drake Caggiula today. The deal is for one year and $750,000.
We have signed forward Drake Caggiula to a one-year contract worth $750,000.
Welcome back Drake!
Details: https://t.co/iQuu2eNvyv pic.twitter.com/bZYhWtQ8Ni
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) July 27, 2021
Drake Caggiula Re-Signs with the Buffalo Sabres
In Caggiula, the Sabres get a forward that will add versatility and toughness to their lineup. Last season, he has scored three goals and seven assists for 10 points, adding 19 minutes in penalties in 38 games split between Buffalo and the Arizona Coyotes. His possession numbers are 42.2 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of -5.3. He is averaging 12:24 minutes of ice time per game.
His point total is down from the 2019-20 season, when he had nine goals and six assists for 15 points, adding 32 minutes in penalties in 40 games. Caggiula’s possession numbers are also down from the 2019-20 season, when he had 48.9 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of -0.2. His average ice time is up a little bit from that season, when it was 11:49.
Caggiula went undrafted. He played college hockey for the University of North Dakota and gained attention from the Edmonton Oilers, who signed him to a two-year entry-level deal in 2016. The Oilers traded him to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2018 and played there through the 2019-20 season. In December 2020, the Coyotes signed him as a free agent.
Over his five-year NHL career, Caggiula has 44 goals and 42 assists for 86 points in 260 career regular-season games. In 21 career playoff games, he has four goals and two assists for six points, adding 27 minutes in penalties. In the 2016-17 season, he went to the second round of the playoff with the Oilers, but the Oilers fell to the Ducks.
What This Means for the Future
The 26-year-old has bounced around the NHL and is looking to find a team he can play for consistently. He might not be a guy that is consistently in the lineup, but when he is, he is capable of adding some grit on the Sabres bottom lines.
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