Drake Caggiula 'would like to play until I'm 50 if I can'

When Jeremy Colliton was 28 years old, he was faced with making perhaps the most difficult decision of his life: Should he retire or attempt to come back from yet another concussion?

But after talking with his wife, his family and his agent, the path became clear: It was time to hang up the skates to secure his long-term future.

It's a tough call for anyone who has experienced head trauma, and Colliton is certainly someone players can approach when trying to make that decision for themselves.

One such player could be Blackhawks forward Drake Caggiula, who missed 30 games this season and over a month last season with concussions.

Caggiula has no plans to end his career, however, and hopes to keep playing for quite some time.

"I mean I would like to play until I'm 50 if I can," Caggiula said after practice Saturday. "I'm feeling healthy, head's feeling strong, feeling clear and good, hand's feeling good. I'm a hockey player to the core and I'm going to play this game for as long as I can."

Caggiula is a feisty, scrappy forward who also possesses plenty of offensive skill. He's scored 14 goals in 66 games with the Hawks since being acquired from Edmonton midway through the 2018-19 campaign.

The 26-year-old is also going to be a father for the first time and will be a restricted free agent after this season is over.

The question is, should Caggiula - while continuing to play a hard-nosed, aggressive game - stop dropping the gloves when opportunities arise? After all, it's something Stan Mikita managed to do and no one every thought less of him for it.

It seems to be the prudent thing to do, but Colliton doesn't expect his forward to completely change how he plays.

"Jules ... has to get dirty," Colliton said. "He has to get his nose in there and go to the net and play physical. That's why he's an NHLer. We want him to be smart (and) we want him to not put himself in vulnerable positions.

"But I think the biggest thing is he's taken the time to recover 100 percent. That's the biggest thing with concussions. When you give yourself time to heal totally then you give yourself the best chance to put it behind you."

RFAs like Caggiula, Dylan Strome and Dominik Kubalik may have to accept a bit less due to a salary cap that's expected to be flat for the next couple of seasons. Caggiula said he isn't overly concerned about the negotiation process, however, and just hopes he can stay in Chicago for as long as possible.

"This is an amazing place to play," Caggiula said. "I grew up as a Blackhawks fan, so I'd love to play here the rest of my career, but hockey can be an unpredictable sport.

"With that being said, I just want to do whatever I can in these playoffs and this opportunity to make sure I set myself up for following years."

Still absent:

Corey Crawford (unfit to participate) and defensemen Connor Murphy (unfit) and Calvin de Haan (family emergency) missed another practice Monday.

Crawford and Murphy could be injured or they could have the coronavirus, although the NHL released a statement Monday that said only two players have tested positive for COVID-19 since Phase 3 testing began July 13.

Power up:

The Hawks spent a significant portion of Monday's practice working on the power play. Duncan Keith, Kirby Dach, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Dominik Kubalik were on the top unit, while the second unit had Adam Boqvist, Alex DeBrincat, Alex Nylander, Dylan Strome and Brandon Saad.

Keith and Boqvist were quarterbacking their respective units, while Dach and Saad provided the net-front presence.

Toews left practice afterward, but Jeremy Colliton said it was just so the captain can stay fresh.