Oilers pending unrestricted free agent forward Drake Caggiula appears likely to head overseas for the first time in his career. He’s received strong interest from Swedish Hockey League clubs Brynäs IF and Djurgårdens IF ahead of the 2025-26 campaign, the latter of which just gained promotion from the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan (per Tomas Ros and Hans Abrahamsson of Aftonbladet).
The 30-year-old Caggiula has spent the last two years primarily with Edmonton’s AHL affiliate in Bakersfield. It’s his second stint in the Oilers organization after beginning his professional career in Edmonton as an undrafted free agent signing out of the University of North Dakota in 2016. This season, the Ontario native led the Condors with 24 goals in 62 games and added 28 assists for 52 points. He also posted a +20 rating, the highest of his professional career.
Caggiula also saw brief NHL action for Edmonton, posting an assist in seven games over multiple call-ups early in the season. That marked his first NHL games in over a year and a half. He last appeared for the Penguins in March 2023.
A solid bottom-six scorer in Edmonton to begin his career, he hasn’t played more than 40 NHL games in a season since before the COVID-19 pandemic, and his chances of doing so again are slim given his age. It’s not entirely unsurprising to see a starring role in a top-flight European league look appealing to him compared to a more unstable minor-league lifestyle. The 5’10”, 179-lb forward has a 46-46–92 scoring line in 289 career NHL games with a -29 rating.
Why wasn’t this article in the Blackhawks feed as well?
Because Elaine hates The Drake.