Vancouver Canucks: What Missing Drake Caggiula Means
So what exactly did the Vancouver Canucks lose by not being able to sign free agent Drake Caggiula?
The Vancouver Canucks were so close to signing Drake Caggiula, but so far from acquiring the services of the NCAA’s top free agent forward. Now that the hate, the disappointment, and the hype has settled down in Vancouver, it is time to really analyze what the Canucks lost here.
Just to recap the events leading up to Caggiula’s signing with the Edmonton Oilers, here is a summary of the Canucks’ case to sign Caggiula:
The Canucks were one of the handful teams interested in the Caggiula before the Frozen Four was even over. Jim Benning was in person in Tampa Bay and was impressed by what the then-North Dakota Fighting Hawk was doing.
Then a couple of weeks removed from North Dakota’s Championship, Caggiula started to make rounds to the eight NHL teams he was interested in. The Canucks and the Philadelphia Flyers were the supposed front-runners.
When Caggiula visited the Canucks early in May, GM Benning was very optimistic about the occasion. Unlike the opinion of some who rolled their eyes at their supposedly naive GM, Caggiula eventually narrowed down his list to the Canadian NHL teams — Ottawa, Edmonton, and Vancouver.
Vancouver, mind you, had the biggest cards to deal here. Top prospect Brock Boeser, a linemate of Caggiula’s, was committed to the organization. Add North Dakota defenseman Troy Stecher — a native of Richmond, B.C. — and you have the potential for a NoDak Trio consisting of perhaps three of the top five performers at the Frozen Four for the NoDaks.
But at the end of the day, there they were, the Edmonton Oilers, who stood smiling after winning the Caggiula sweepstakes last Friday. And here we were in Vancouver, some of us pretty much reduced to a bunch of angry fans.
Drake's mentions filled with angry Canucks' fans. Boeser has to send a tweet out to call off the dogs.
— Taj (@taj1944) May 7, 2016
I will not deny the fact that I was disappointed. After just finishing up the Free Agent Fridays post that day, I could only imagine how good the Canucks would be with Caggiula playing behind a top-notch free agent like Andrew Ladd.
But now, here are the cold hard facts. The Edmonton Oilers had a bigger card — a guy named Connor McDavid.
So what did we learn from all this?
Next: The CONNOR MCDAVID Effect
The Connor McDavid Effect: EDM will Get what it Wants
Yes, the Connor McDavid effect. Although one can only imagine that McDavid would not be centering Caggiula this coming October, the very prospect of being in the same lineup seems to have drawn Caggiula away from Boeser.
Unless, of course, GM Peter Chiarelli talked Caggiula into believing that the Oilers might lend him a spot on the McDavid line, that is.
Are you going to call this unfair from Vancouver’s perspective? Think again.
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How did Radim Vrbata come to the Canucks? Via free agency. But really, how? To play with the Sedin twins. To a lesser degree, remember how David Booth, the then-coveted power forward, land with the Canucks a few summers back? To play with fellow American then-Canuck Ryan Kesler.
The Canucks had their fair share of attracting free agents through name power. Now the cycle is allowing the Oilers to do the same thing. Unfair? Not in Edmonton’s perspective, especially when they have thousands of Fort McMurray refugees filing into the city.
But this is a sign of things to come. The Canucks are bound to be handicapped by this for the foreseeable future. McDavid is not going to move away from the Pacific Division, and big names could continue to trickle into Edmonton, especially when the rebuild leads to a contending team.
Just be thankful that any one of the top three picks of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft has not fallen into the hands of the Pacific Division rivals. Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine, and Jesse Puljujarvi will only hurt Vancouver a handful times a year.
Next: Too PASSIONATE to be ATTRACTIVE
Vancouver’s Social Media Effect: Too Passionate to be Attractive
Hey, after what the most outraged Canucks fans just threw out on Twitter that day, do you really blame future free agents who quote the fan critics as a reason not to sign with the Canucks?
It would be absurd and unprofessional for an NHL-er to not sign because of how the fanbase can light their Twitter on fire. But especially when the Canucks are in the retooling phase, the city needs to help attract the free agent to this beautiful city and not scare them away on social media.
For example, one tweet compared Caggiula’s apparent preference of Edmonton over Vancouver as that of McDavid over Boeser and said “Ditching your linemate, what does that say about your person, Drake?”.
Really? If Boeser is more promising a teammate than McDavid is, why didn’t the Oilers pick Boeser first overall at the draft last year?
Room for Positives: Vancouver is Still an Attractive Market
Hey, at least the Canucks were one of the top two choices, right? That is like being the Patrik Laine to the Auston Matthews!
The Canucks should be grateful for the signing of Michael Garteig and Troy Stecher and while Vancouver is slowly losing the Sedin-factor and the Championship-factor is long gone, there seems to be something about this city that attracts free agents more often than not.
And what about the job Jim Benning has done in all this? Good on the management for investing and pursuing these big names and getting two of their three identified targets.
Guess what is next — July 1st Free Agency Frenzy. Benning’s skills will be put to the test once again to see if he will be able to attract some valuable names to Van City.
Next: REALITY CHECK: What now?
The Truth
But at the day, what is the truth behind all this? Here is the quote from Caggiula, courtesy of Jason Gregor.
It reminded me of Grand Forks. I felt comfortable with the organization. People told me to follow my heart so I choose Edmonton. (Drake Caggiula, May 9th)
Reality Check: Impact on the Draft
In reality, though Caggiula’s signing with the Oilers proved many faults in Vancouver, the practicality of the matter may be favorable.
So what are the chances the Oilers draft another forward with the number four pick now that Caggiula is in Edmonton for two years?
Not much, if you ask me. Olli Juolevi may have become the biggest possibility at number four, and more likely, the EDM pick is bound to get traded. Common sense tells me that the Arizona Coyotes could dangle a young defenseman (like Connor Murphy) to move up.
In case you didn’t catch the Canuck connection there, this means that Caggiula may just have secured a Pierre-Luc Dubois pick at number five.
RELATED: The Complete Draft Profile Compilation
Matthew Tkachuk is from Arizona. With the Yotes looking for top-notch talent to the left to Max Domi and Anthony Duclair, the fit is there for the new Coyotes GM to make a big splash in moving up to the number four.
Even before that happens, if Edmonton holds on, what are the odds that they draft Tkachuk or Dubois over Juolevi?
That question got easier to answer when the New York Islanders pulled top defenseman Travis Hamonic off the market on Tuesday. Good times to be an Oiler, eh? How y’a doing, Mr. Yakupov?
What does Caggiula become in Edmonton? A top-line forward? A middle-six winger with checking upside? A forward who never really blossoms with the Oilers as many other have before him? Who knows.
At the end of the day, no one knows what this dreaded loss of a promising left winger may ultimately turn out to mean for the Canucks and the dynamics of the Pacific Division.
Next: Mock Draft 2.0: Joun's Full First Round Projection
What we do know is that the Canucks have P/R training sessions to mail out to their fans, that free agency might be that much harder to compete in the Pacific, and the most assuring logic says prevails to say that the Canucks are that much closer to drafting their top option, none other than Pierre-Luc Dubois.