2022 Player Report Card: Drake Caggiula

27-year-old missed majority of the season due to injury & surgery.

Our 2022 Buffalo Sabres player report cards continue today with a look at forward Drake Caggiula.

Total Season Stats: 18 GP | 2 G | 3 A | 5 PTS

Age: 27

Contract Status: UFA (earned $750,000 this past season)

I’m going to be completely honest here: for a while, I pretty much forgot that Drake Caggiula existed. When he occasionally showed up in videos or on social media – like on RJ night – it took me a split second of asking “Who is that guy?” before realizing.

Can you blame me? He’s only played 29 games with the Sabres over the past two seasons and missed most of this season due to injury. When he did play, he wasn’t exactly the most prominent or flashy player out there. Unfortunately, his situation while in Buffalo just sort of makes it easy to forget about him.

This was probably the highlight of the season:

This season was obviously rough for the 27-year-old.

Everything was going fine until November 22, when he was injured in a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Caggiula was initially considered week-to-week as he attempted a non-surgical recovery & practiced with the team in a non-contact role. He finally underwent surgery to repair a herniated disc in February.

The recovery time is an expected six to eight months, which means he likely won’t be returning to the ice & full practices until at least August. Speaking frankly, I don’t expect him to be a member of the Buffalo Sabres anymore by then.

Season Grade: D (but it’s honestly really hard to evaluate his season since it was so short)