The NHL Department of Player Safety suspended Chicago Blackhawks center Drake Caggiula for Game 2 against the Edmonton Oilers for his second-period check of Tyler Ennis during Saturday’s 6-4 Hawks win in Game 1 of their best-of-five series.
With about 12 minutes left in the period, Caggiula hit Ennis’ head with his shoulder as Ennis lowered his head to make a pass.
“Just kind of a bang-bang play,” Hawks coach Jeremy Colliton said. “He went hard; I don’t think he was trying to catch him in the head, but he did. The NHL made the decision, and of course we wish we had him in the lineup but we won’t. Someone has to go in and make a difference.”
The league reviewed the play and handed down the discipline Sunday afternoon while Caggiula’s Hawks teammates were on a conference call with media.
“Drake’s an important player for us, so it sucks for him to be out for a game,” Dylan Strome said. “We’ve got a lot of guys here that can step in and hopefully emulate what he does. He’s a 200-foot player and hits a lot of bodies and finds a way to create some chances and get some momentum for us.”
Colliton added: “I feel bad for Jules. He’s been excited about this series, playing his old team.”
The Hawks have good depth at forward but not an abundance of players who are as “gritty” as Caggiula is, Colliton said.
“He’s killed penalties, played up and down the lineup,” Colliton said. “He’s a big part of our team. We’ll get him back, but for (Monday), that’s an opportunity for someone else. And that’s what playoffs are all about. You find a way to get wins with what you have.”
Brandon Hagel, Dylan Sikura and Philipp Kurashev are the likeliest candidates to replace Caggiula.
As much as the Hawks like Kurashev, he just got his feet wet in training camp and has no NHL experience. He centered the top line when Jonathan Toews missed a day of camp.
Hagel had the unfortunate timing of playing in only one game before the COVID-19 pause, but the Hawks intended to get him experience in what would’ve been the final 12 regular-season games. In March, Colliton called him a “scrappy player” who has “a little bit of skill, works hard.”
Sikura had a hat trick during a scrimmage in what was a good training camp for the 25-year-old. He has had trouble breaking through in the NHL and scored his first goal in his 44th game, Jan. 5 against the Detroit Red Wings, but he was sent back to Rockford after three more games.
“It’s obviously been a tough road,” he acknowledged during camp.
However, Sikura has been in the Hawks organization since they drafted him in 2014, and he has played in 47 NHL games while Hagel and Kurashev have one game of experience between them.
Sikura’s comments in camp seem prophetic: “Hopefully I can take a step here, maybe get into a game or two depending on what happens and see what happens there. Just keep taking a step and hopefully one day breaking that barrier and becoming a regular.”