Sabre Noise
Fansided

Buffalo Sabres Could Be In Drake Caggiula Sweepstakes

By Melissa Kania

Apr 9, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; North Dakota Fighting Hawks forward Drake Caggiula (9) skates around with the trophy after beating the Quinnipiac Bobcats in the championship game of the 2016 Frozen Four college ice hockey tournament at Amalie Arena. North Dakota defeated Quinnipiac 5-1. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 9, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; North Dakota Fighting Hawks forward Drake Caggiula (9) skates around with the trophy after beating the Quinnipiac Bobcats in the championship game of the 2016 Frozen Four college ice hockey tournament at Amalie Arena. North Dakota defeated Quinnipiac 5-1. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Could the Buffalo Sabres be close to signing one of college hockey’s most-coveted free agents?

If sources are to be believed, undrafted free agent forward Drake Caggiula has made his “list” – and the Buffalo Sabres are on it.

Caggiula, 21, recently finished up his senior season at North Dakota, where he just won a national championship. The Whitby, Ontario native has been a highly-touted prospect and some have claimed that literally more than half of the NHL has expressed interest in signing him.

In all, he finished his senior season with 51 points (25-26) in 39 games.

In the end, it’s his decision, but according to a TSN report earlier this week, Caggiula has narrowed down his list.

More from Sabre Noise

The Buffalo Sabres are one of a few teams on that supposed list, alongside Philadelphia, Edmonton, Ottawa, Vancouver and Chicago.

Each team would certainly have its appeals to Caggiula.

Signing with the Buffalo Sabres, of course, would give him a chance to play with Jack Eichel, one of the NHL’s most prominent rookies this season. He’d also get to play with Sam Reinhart, Evander Kane, Ryan O’Reilly and company – some decent names that would certainly draw attention.

Not to mention there’s the whole city of Buffalo as a “hockey town” and the clear attention the city gives to the sport, from being top in the league in local ratings, to the variety of national and international championships that have been held in Buffalo.

It’s expected that Caggiula will visit with each of the teams on his list, which means he’s likely heading to the 716 and meeting with the Buffalo Sabres at some point before he makes his final decision.

Certainly Terry Pegula & co. will meet with Caggiula and take him around First Niagara Center, HARBORCENTER and the like.

But Caggiula already has at least some familiarity with Buffalo, having been invited to Buffalo Sabres prospect development camp in 2014.

He was part of the team that captured the French Connection Trophy after winning the prospects’ tournament, alongside Mikhail Grigorenko, Mary Pysyk, Justin Kea and Liam Pecararo.

Here’s a blog post Caggiula did for Sabres.com during the camp:

"Camp is tough, but it’s a lot of fun. Coming in here, I didn’t really know anybody or anything like that. Nerves are high as it’s my first camp. I have a few expectations for myself and so far I’ve met them. Overall, I’ve had a great time.My linemates Tim Schaller and Kevin Sundher were good all game Tuesday. The pace of the scrimmage was very fast. It started off real high, but it’s summertime so the pace kind of slowed down a bit. Guys started making mistakes and that’s when the goals started to happen.My goal is always to be the hardest working guy on the ice. I’m not the biggest guy by all means and with my size, I always say I have to work harder out there.Because I didn’t get drafted, it adds a little more fuel to the fire as motivation for myself. I kind of use it to prove people wrong, like, ‘Well, maybe you should have drafted me.’ At this point, it’s over and free agent life isn’t too bad. And here I am at a development camp anyway. It all works out. I’ve just got to keep working hard to get better.Being small, you’ve got to be strong and you’ve got to be heavy on the puck and all that. Going to college, that definitely gives me a little extra time to develop physically. Being a free agent right now and being a little bit smaller gives me more time to develop and set me up for a bit of a different future.My freshman year was kind of up-and-down, and I thought last year – my sophomore year – I kind of stepped it up and became a lot more consistent. Obviously I want to do a little bit better than that this coming year and step into a big leadership role there, whether it’s with a letter or not.I just have to be a leader on and off the ice and contribute to my team in all sorts of ways."

This level of familiarity with the Buffalo Sabres could help draw Caggiula here; but of course, the other teams have points of appeal for him as well.

He’s already got a connection with the Flyers, who are coached by Dave Hakstol – Caggiula’s former coach at ND. His agent was also a teammate of Hakstol’s and served as *his* agent as well.

Edmonton would put Caggiula in alongside Connor McDavid, which would obviously be a hard thing to pass up, not to mention the other former top draft picks there.

Chicago’s been a proven Stanley Cup Champion team in recent years. Vancouver would allow him to build off his chemistry with Brock Boeser and work from there. Even Ottawa could be an interesting destination for the free agent forward.

So – could he choose Buffalo? Why not? Search Youtube for Drake Caggiula & many of the results are “highlight-reel” goals. It sure is fun to imagine him in a Buffalo Sabres jersey, skating alongside Eichel, Reinhart, etc. and making those moves in the NHL.

Next: Buffalo Sabres Should Re-Sign These Players

Of course, it’s a long offseason, and Caggiula can take his time in making the decision — but if he ends up with the Buffalo Sabres, boy, that’ll be a fun one.

Home/Sabres News