Vancouver Canucks: What Missing Drake Caggiula Means

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
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Mar 14, 2015; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks fans do the wave during the second period against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

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?