Rozner: Blackhawks' Caggiula looks to regain footing

Jeremy Colliton certainly isn't afraid to try something new.

Witness the Drake Caggiula experiment last season, a grinder placed on the top line with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.

This Blackhawks coach does not pigeonhole players sight unseen, assuming roles based on age, experience or previous job description.

He knew the top line needed someone to dig in the corners and get to the net, and Caggiula did precisely that.

How well did it work? The Hawks won 11 of their first 13 after Caggiula was elevated.

"My first impression when I saw my name on the board with their names was, 'Oh my God, I get to play with my childhood heroes.' Then I just had to focus right away and think about the game," said the 25-year-old Caggiula. "They were great about it.

"They said, 'Just go play your game. Win puck battles. Create traffic in front and do the things you do well.'

"They gave me a lot of confidence. They didn't harp on me to do things I can't do. That allowed me to play my game. I didn't have to try to impress them.

"My first day here, they welcomed me. You never know. Never been traded before, but the guys let me step in and be myself, on and off the ice."

In their first 12 games with Caggiula, Kane collected 27 points and Toews 19, easily the hottest stretch of the season for both players up to that juncture.

"You know, he's got more skill than he probably gets credit for, but you see that a lot in this league because people decide you're a certain type of player," Toews said. "With us, it was a good fit because he likes traffic and he wins a lot of pucks because he's fearless.

"He's flying around and hitting people and he finds pucks that you don't expect him to get."

The Hawks have needed more players like Caggiula for quite some time, and they added some edge over the summer by bringing back a bulked-up Andrew Shaw.

"He's always going to compete," Colliton said of Caggiula. "He's willing to go into the corners and to the net and he's going to battle for 50-50 pucks no matter who it's against or where.

"He fits with a lot of different players because he gets pucks in and he gets pucks out, and that means more puck possession in the offensive zone for us."

The Hawks had gone 11-4-0 over the previous month when the 5-foot-10, 175-pound Caggiula was drilled from behind by Anaheim's Rickard Rakell on Feb. 27, after winning a puck race in the corner.

The resulting concussion cost Caggiula a month - and the top line some great momentum - but there was no fine or suspension for Rakell, who was tossed from the game.

It came at an awful time for the Hawks - who went 6-5-1 without him - and Caggiula, who seemed to have found a home in a crucial spot that has been tough for the Hawks to fill.

"When it's a hockey play and an injury happens, that's hockey, but when it's a cheap shot and you're injured as a result, and then I'm missing four to five weeks and we're in the playoff hunt, that was really frustrating," Caggiula said. "Those games were super important and you want to be there.

"I only played five games when I came back, but feel like I picked up where I left off. Hopefully, I can ride that momentum into the season."

Caggiula finished with 5 points in those 5 games and would figure to have an opportunity again to play his way into an important role as Colliton juggles lines throughout the season.

It's not certain Kane and Toews will play together all year, and there are many candidates for that spot on the wing if they do. Alex Nylander got the chance Wednesday night and again at practice Friday. Brandon Saad is always on the shortlist, Shaw has been there before and Dominik Kubalik is the flavor of the day after a nice game in Detroit on Tuesday.

Caggiula would like the chance again, though he spent Friday's practice on the fourth line with newcomers Ryan Carpenter and Zack Smith.

"My exit interview (in April) was positive and I heard a lot of good things about where my game was at. They appreciated my style of play," said Caggiula, who collected 12 points and had a pair of fights in 26 games after the trade from Edmonton. "No indication of where I'll be. It's a long offseason and lots of things can happen as they bring in new players.

"But my plan was to go into camp with the mindset that it's my spot to lose and I want to go back and earn that spot again."

One certainty is the Hawks like him. That's not a terrible place to start.