Moments ago, the Blackhawks announced a trade involving defensemen Brandon Manning and Robin Norell. Congratulations Blackhawks’ fans, Brandon Manning is no longer our problem! Thank God!
TRADE ALERT: The #Blackhawks have acquired forward Drake Caggiula (AAV of $1,500,000) and defenseman Jason Garrison (AAV of $650,000) from Edmonton in exchange for defensemen Brandon Manning and Robin Norell. pic.twitter.com/3AjZ27z0ck
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 30, 2018
There’s not much to this trade besides it mainly being a salary dump. StanBo righted his wrong with this one and was able to unload Brandon Manning’s obnoxiously bad contract. I honestly feel bad for the Edmonton Oilers, because they did not improve at all with this trade. Ladies and gentlemen, there may actually be a worse GM in the NHL than Stan Bowman and his name is Peter Chiarelli.
Blackhawks Add Roster Depth
Let’s take a closer look at who the Blackhawks acquired from the Edmonton Oilers. Drake Caggiula is a small-bodied forward who has a bit of upside. Caggiula had a respectable NCAA career in which he played on a line with former Blackhawks’ forward, Nick Schmaltz, and Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks.
Before entering the #NHL, #Blackhawks new forward Drake Caggiula led North Dakota to a Div I title and was named the most outstanding player at the Frozen Four. He was courted by several teams as a free agent.13 goals in 67 games last season, 27 in 156 for his career.
— Chris Wescott (@TheChrisWescott) December 30, 2018
Thus far in Caggiula’s NHL career, things haven’t played out like he had hoped. Then again, playing in Edmonton usually isn’t a breeding ground for success. Although, all of Caggiula’s struggles cannot be pinned on him. Edmonton has had a revolving door at head coach lately and their upper management isn’t exactly anything to write home about. Hence the lopsided trade in the Blackhawks’ favor. Maybe a change of scenery will do Caggiula some good. Here’s a closer look at Drake Caggiula’s body of work.
Since Drake Caggiula doesn’t have many highlights with the Edmonton Oilers, here’s an impressive little highlight reel of his career before the NHL.
The Blackhawks also acquired defenseman Jason Garrison in today’s trade. Garrison has had a relatively productive NHL career until the past couple of seasons. Jason Garrison is currently 34 years old and has not seen much ice time in the past two seasons. Last season with the Vegas Golden Knights, Garrison only laced up his skates eight times. This season, Garrison played a total of 17 games, but hasn’t had much of an impact.
Here are Jason Garrison’s career stats in the NHL:
Scor Goal Assi Shot Ice Season Age Tm Lg GP G A PTS +/- PIM EV PP SH GW EV PP SH S S% TSA TOI ATOI FOW FOL FO% BLK HIT TK GV Awards 2008-09 24 FLA NHL 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 12 11:57 0 0 1 1 0 0 2009-10 25 FLA NHL 39 2 6 8 5 23 2 0 0 0 5 1 0 24 8.3 54 590 15:08 0 0 52 37 4 11 2010-11 26 FLA NHL 73 5 13 18 -2 26 5 0 0 3 10 3 0 116 4.3 264 1627 22:18 0 0 127 136 19 41 2011-12 27 FLA NHL 77 16 17 33 6 32 7 9 0 3 13 3 1 168 9.5 350 1825 23:42 1 1 50.0 124 127 20 30 2012-13 28 VAN NHL 47 8 8 16 18 28 5 3 0 2 5 3 0 94 8.5 225 1019 21:41 0 0 58 36 16 24 AS-24 2013-14 29 VAN NHL 81 7 26 33 -5 57 2 4 1 1 13 11 2 181 3.9 379 1693 20:54 0 0 128 58 30 44 2014-15 30 TBL NHL 70 4 26 30 27 19 3 1 0 3 16 10 0 111 3.6 236 1401 20:01 0 0 94 46 21 29 AS-27 2015-16 31 TBL NHL 72 5 6 11 -4 18 5 0 0 1 6 0 0 99 5.1 200 1329 18:28 0 0 105 88 15 45 2016-17 32 TBL NHL 70 1 8 9 -8 14 1 0 0 0 8 0 0 96 1.0 193 1300 18:34 0 0 91 93 8 33 2017-18 33 VEG NHL 8 0 1 1 -2 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 7 0.0 15 153 19:04 0 0 23 7 3 7 2018-19 34 EDM NHL 17 1 0 1 1 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 16 6.3 31 216 12:42 0 0 23 13 2 5 4 yrs FLA NHL 190 23 36 59 9 81 14 9 0 6 28 7 1 308 7.5 670 4054 21:20 1 1 50.0 304 301 43 82 3 yrs TBL NHL 212 10 40 50 15 51 9 1 0 4 30 10 0 306 3.3 629 4030 19:00 0 0 290 227 44 107 2 yrs VAN NHL 128 15 34 49 13 85 7 7 1 3 18 14 2 275 5.5 604 2712 21:11 0 0 186 94 46 68 1 yr VEG NHL 8 0 1 1 -2 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 7 0.0 15 153 19:04 0 0 23 7 3 7 1 yr EDM NHL 17 1 0 1 1 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 16 6.3 31 216 12:42 0 0 23 13 2 5 Career 11 yrs NHL 555 49 111 160 36 229 30 18 1 13 77 31 3 912 5.4 1949 11165 20:07 1 1 50.0 826 642 138 269
Provided by Hockey-Reference.com: View Original Table
The latest news on Jason Garrison is that he will most likely be sent straight to Rockford. I just hope he doesn’t take any playing time away from the young, developing defensemen currently in Rockford.
Source tells me newly acquired defenseman Jason Garrison will “most likely” end up in Rockford.
— Jay Zawaski (@JayZawaski670) December 30, 2018
Final Thoughts on the Brandon Manning Trade
Overall, it was a great deal for the Blackhawks. Not only was StanBo able to unload Brandon Manning and that joke of a contract, but he also got a player with some upside in return with Drake Caggiula. Maybe we will see Caggiula turn things around in Chicago, similar to what Dylan Strome has done. Only time will tell just how good this trade is, but in the meantime, I am happy to see that Brandon Manning is somebody else’s headache now.
For more Blackhawks news and updates, follow the author @Certified_TonyG on Twitter.
