#5. Drake Caggiula
I had the luxury of watching this player in junior with the Stouffville Spirit and even as a rookie, he seemed special. Although he’s bounced between the Edmonton Oilers and Chicago Blackhawks for the past five seasons, Caggiula would be a great fourth-line centre option or AHL call-up.
Coming off a $1.5M per season contract, the Blackhawks decided not to give Caggiula a qualifying offer, thus making him a UFA. For his production (9 goals, 15 points in 40 games played), I guess Chicago didn’t think he was worth this qualifying number, but that seemed like pretty good value to me.
Caggiula was on-pace for 18 goals and 30 points at an 82-game pace and can really fly on the ice. Although he’s undersized at 5-foot-10, 175 pounds, he’s very skillful. If you look at the current roster of the Leafs, the following players have the opportunity of playing third or fourth-line centre right now:
- Alex Kerfoot
- Jason Spezza
- Pierre Engvall
- Travis Boyd
- Denis Malgin
- Adam Brooks
Although there’s a handful of players in the mix, adding another would increase healthy competition. The Pickering, ON native would probably love to play in-front of his friends and family every night, so if he’s willing to take a deal less than $1M per season, he’d be a great addition to the Leafs.