On Aug. 28, the Edmonton Oilers announced that Sam Gagner and Brandon Sutter had each signed a professional tryout contract (PTO). The forwards will attend Oilers training camp this month, looking to land an NHL deal with the team.
Reports first came out in early August that the Oilers would be signing Sutter, who is attempting a comeback after being sidelined for the last two seasons by long COVID. The 34-year-old last played an NHL game in May 2021, as a member of the Vancouver Canucks.
Related: Oilers Giving Brandon Sutter Chance to Write Comeback Story
Should Gagner earn a roster spot, he would embark on a third tour of duty with the Oilers. While there has been a handful of individuals who have had a return engagement in Edmonton, he would be the first player over the franchise’s four-plus decades to play for the Oilers on three occasions separated by stints with other NHL teams.
It’s unprecedented, and yet, if there was one man that would somehow end up back with a team that had traded him away twice before, it would be Gagner, a decent player and great guy with absolutely horrendous luck.
Gagner Has Seen it All in the NHL
Gagner, who turned 34 on Aug. 10, has been in the NHL since he was barely 18. Drafted sixth overall by the Oilers in 2007, the former London Knights star made his NHL debut a few months later.
Gagner has been around so long that he’s had teammates who were born in the 1960s and been linemates with players born this millennium. He’s been part of an NHL All-Star Weekend, participating in an event that no longer exists (YoungStars game) in a city that no longer has an NHL franchise (Atlanta, Ga.).
He shares the NHL record for most points in the third period of a regular season game (five, when he had an eight-point performance for the Oilers against the Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 2, 2012), and he once went 30 games without scoring a goal.
He’s been part of NHL seasons that started late and ended early, schedules shortened by a lockout and a pandemic. He’s played in empty arenas and packed houses. He’s been traded (including twice in one day, from Edmonton to the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Arizona Coyotes on June 29, 2014), placed on waivers, cleared, and recalled.
Gagner has experienced pretty much everything in the NHL over his career of 1,015 regular season games. Everything except for team success, that is.
Playoffs Have Been Rare for Gagner
In 16 NHL seasons, Gagner has gone to the playoffs just twice, with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2016 and Columbus Blue Jackets in 2017, and his team was eliminated in the first round on both occasions. He’s experienced a grand total of three postseason wins, and suited up for only 11 playoff games – or about one for every 92 regular season games he’s appeared in.
Nine times – more than half of his career – Gagner’s team has finished 25th or lower in the overall standings. Five times – nearly a third of his career – the forward’s team has finished last or second-last overall.
Only once has he ended the season on a team that placed higher than 14th overall, in 2016-17 with Columbus when the Blue Jackets had the fourth most points (108) in the NHL. As is Gagner’s luck, the Metropolitan Division was ridiculously stacked that season, and Columbus’ 50-24-8 record was only good enough for third place in the division and a first-round playoff matchup with the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, who had 111 points. Pittsburgh won the series in five games.
During his second go-round with the Oilers, Gagner was part of a very good 2019-20 team that was contending for first place in the Pacific Division. But then he was dealt at the trade deadline to the 31st-place Detroit Red Wings in a transaction that brought Andreas Athanasiou to Edmonton.
Last season Gagner missed an opportunity to skate in the playoffs with the Winnipeg Jets after his season came to an end in early March when he underwent surgery on both hips. Winnipeg lost its first-round playoff series in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Odds Are Against Gagner Making the Oilers
Gagner hasn’t played since going under the knife; he last suited up for a game on Feb. 28. The veteran forward was averaging around a dozen minutes per game with the Jets as a serviceable bottom six-forward on an average team.
The question now is can Gagner, another year older and coming off serious surgery, find a spot on a team with Stanley Cup aspirations?
If he’s to make the Oilers roster, Gagner ostensibly needs to outplay both Sutter and 22-year-old center Raphael Lavoie, who is waiver eligible and appears ready for the NHL after leading the Bakersfield Condors with 25 goals last season, his third in the American Hockey League (AHL). That’s not likely.
A more realistic scenario would see Gagner signing a two-way contract and starting the season in Bakersfield before being recalled to Edmonton at some point. Throughout his career, the team-first Gagner has proven to be without ego and sacrificed willingly, doing whatever it takes. He’s already kept a positive attitude through parts of three seasons in the AHL over the last several years and found himself back in the NHL every time.
It remains to be seen how all this plays out, but it’s a safe bet all Oilers fans will be pulling for Gagner. After everything he’s been through, the ever-upbeat Gagner deserves a break, lucky or otherwise.
