The last time we saw Sam Gagner it was during the second intermission of Game 7 in Florida, on June 24, pacing the halls outside the Edmonton Oilers dressing room — in workout gear and sneakers — not a suit, alongside the injured Evander Kane.
Both players dying to be in the lineup, but instead being antsy spectators and cheerleaders.
Kane, who may need sports hernia surgery, remains an Oiler. He has two years left on his contract at $5.125 million.
Gagner? He still wants to play, he’s still in the gym, working out.
He turned 35 on Aug. 10, and after 17 pro years, he’s not ready to turn off the switch, not ready to take the next hockey road into team management, something many feel he would be perfect for.
Much like ex-Oilers captain Shawn Horcoff, now Detroit’s assistant GM after being in player development when he retired in 2016.
After 1,043 NHL games and three separate stints with the Oilers, Gagner’s first NHL game on Oct. 4, 2007, when the 18-year-old forward assisted on a goal by Tom Gilbert in a 3-2 Oiler shootout win over San Jose at Rexall Place, Gagner doesn’t have a contract.
But, teams have been calling offering a lifeline. And he’s listening.
“I’m still hoping to play again,” Gagner, who remains very much one of the most popular Oilers after 564 games, more than half of his 1,043 total with other NHL stops in Arizona, Philadelphia, Columbus, Vancouver, Detroit and Winnipeg.
Crowded forward group
It looks awfully crowded here with 13 veteran players on one-way contracts including newcomers Vasily Podkolzin, Matt Savoie and Roby Jarventie, joining Raphael Lavoie and James Hamblin in the picture for employment here, too.
But, Gagner isn’t ready to do something else. It might be in another organization, though.
“I feel really good, so we will see what happens in the next month or so. I have some PTO offers and hopefully, I can get a contract. But we’ll see where it goes,” he said in a text.
Gagner, who was Oiler CEO Jeff Jackson’s first client when he became a player agent, got a tryout here last fall after two hip surgeries and a long, often painful rehab. He was at camp on a PTO with Brandon Sutter, trying a comeback after long COVID problems and Adam Erne. Sutter played two pre-season games last fall and said his body wasn’t reacting the way he wanted and he retired.
Gagner didn’t play any pre-season games but he and Erne got two-way contracts for veteran insurance.
Gagner played 28 games and was productive with five goals and 10 points last season.
Erne got into 24 games and recorded two points, mostly as a fourth-line energy guy.
Both spent time in Bakersfield, both were around for the playoffs last spring. But neither played.
Gagner was aching to get into a post-season game last year — he’s only played 11 in his career and none since 2017 with Columbus, but Gagner ran out of time and nobody got hurt. So, there he was with Kane, nervously hoping for an Oilers comeback in Florida that fell short in late June.
Gagner has had a long ride in his 17 years, mostly in the NHL but with a few detours to the AHL in Bakersfield, Lehigh Valley (Flyers organization) and Toronto Marlies (on loan from Canucks). He was in the NHL just three and a half months after the Oilers took him sixth overall in 2007.
He’s almost spent half of his life as a pro hockey player.
It’s what he knows and still what he loves.
This ‘n’ that
Ex-Oilers goalie Mikko Koskinen, 36, has officially retired after two years in Lausanne and he’s going into the player agent business, according to Finnish media outlet Ilta-Sanomat. He had to give up his ownership share in Kiekko-Espoo to do so.
Sylvain Rodrigue, the former Bakersfield goalie coach, whose boy Olivier will share goalie duties in Bakersfield with Collin Delia this season, has moved on to the Florida Panthers organization. He’ll also work with their minor-league affiliates.
Kelly Guard, the ex-WHL goalie and goalie coach in Prince Albert, took Rodrigue’s spot in Bakersfield.
Oiler winger Kailer Yamamoto has no contract either after Seattle chose not to offer the restricted free agent a qualifying offer at the end of June. He may have to go the tryout route too.
Gagner’s agent dad Dave, who played 946 NHL games, doesn’t represent his son, but Dave has a big season coming up for his Oilers client Evan Bouchard, who could be in the $9 million to $10 million range very soon.
We know that NHL teams have cap issues and their own younger players to look at, but it’s still baffling how two right-shot NHL defencemen Justin Schultz (745 league games) and Tyson Barrie (809) are unsigned when right-handed D-men are so valuable, even for the league minimum, and might only get tryouts. Maybe one of them will get a tryout with the Oilers?
Former Oiler farmhand Ryan Fanti goalie who never got any traction in the organization after being signed as a college free-agent is now with Syracuse, Tampa Bay’s AHL affiliate. He’s on a one-year minor-league deal.
Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.comand EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters.
You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun