Favorite Edmonton Oilers of All Time: #8. Sam Gagner

Today I talk about the most recent addition on the list: #89, Sam Gagner.

I know, I have him ranked higher than CuJo but bear with me!

Gagner Recap

Summer 2007. This was the year that I graduated high school and one of the first drafts I really tried to follow closely. After the disastrous 2006-07 season , the Edmonton Oilers had the highest draft pick that I could remember since I started following the team as a kid at number six. They also had two other draft picks that round at fifteen and twenty-one (which they traded up from thirtieth for). I will not talk about those to picks because they were utter busts for Edmonton (Alex Plante, who recently signed with a team in South Korea and Riley Nash, who did not want to sign with Edmonton, dealt to Carolina for a pick that ended up being Martin Marincin, signed recently for one year with Carolina despite not being qualified by the team).

Number Six had a few players that I really wanted at that spot: Sam Gagner, Karl Alzner, Jakob Voracek. I was absolutely thrilled with the Gagner pick. 18-year-old me figured that Gagner was going to be the next number one centre for the Oilers for years to come.

Gagner started on a positive note with the Oilers in the 2007-08 season where the kid lined rejunivated a new looking Oilers that added Sheldon Souray and Dustin Penner to the fold. While they did not make the playoffs, people were feeling great on the new future of Gagner, Andrew Cogliano (2006 first round pick) and Robert Nilsson (acquired in Ryan Smyth Deal, former first round pick). Gagner put up a very respectable 49 points with the Oilers in 2007-08, finishing third in scoring for the team.

Unfortunately for Gagner, that seemed to be his career high thus far. Gagner ended up playing with theOilers from 2007-2014 for a total of seven years with the Oilers. Last summer he was dealt to Tampa Bay for Teddy Purcell and hours later dealt to the Arizona Coyotes. After only one season, Gagner was dealt yet again to the Philadelphia Flyers for Nicklas Grossman and Arizona Coyote Legend, Chris Pronger.

Why Gagner at 8?

I know, Gagner on an all-time favorite list is a bit of an odd sight (trust me, there are weirder ones coming up) but Sam Gagner, as mentioned above, was drafted the same year I graduated high school so there’s a connection there for me. In hindsight, 2007 was an alright draft class: first round was not spectacular but later rounds did produce studs like PK Subban and Jamie Benn. Sam Gagner also marked the first time I was really invested in the NHL Draft and NHL prospects: sure I would look up players as they would get drafted but this marked the first time as a young hockey fan that I became hooked on the entry draft. Every Draft would be a holiday for me, up there with Trade Deadline and Free Agency.

Sometimes liking a player does not make sense on the stat sheet. I was a Gagner supporter but I could admit he did not live up to expectations. Sure, he has played the second most games of his draft class but he has never broken that elusive 50 point barrier. As a player, he was not excellent defensively and his speed was average at best. Still, I enjoyed Gagner because he never gave up on a play. Despite some of his flaws in his game, his hustle was not one of them.

Besides, it also helps that he played for Arizona (who I LOVED as a kid because their 90s jerseys were awesome) and is now playing for Philadelphia (who has a personal favorite, Claude Giroux). Gagner is one guy I will continue to root for and I hope one day he can get over that fifty point barrier.

Of course, my favorite Gagner moment was the magical eight point night. Gagner became God-ner: against the fearsome Chicago Blackhawks no less! I remember watching that game live and I had never seen a player put up points like that live. No it was not the big name super stars like Crosby or Ovechkin but Sam Gagner. It’s a night to remember for sure.

Next: Edmonton Oilers: Comeback Candidates for 2015-16