Gagner addition could be win-win
Marlies receive top-line forward with something to prove
John Tavares reached out to his childhood friend Sam Gagner when Gagner got the shocking word that not only had he cleared waivers but that the Vancouver Canucks were sending the 11-year veteran to the minors.
In a fortuitous turn of events, the Canucks loaned Gagner to the Toronto Marlies — where he can be closer to family and friends — rather than send him to their top farm team in Utica, N.Y.
That’s where Tavares came in. “He offered up a room for me,” said the 29-year-old Gagner, a veteran of 770 NHL games. “There are a lot of guys around the league, friends of mine, that have reached out.
“It’s nice to have that support. It gives you a bit of confidence when players around the league feel you can play at that level.”
Gagner — in the middle of a three-year, $9.45-million contract with the Canucks — is not sure what to make of his sudden change of circumstances. “I was surprised by it. I thought, based on my camp, and how I played the past 11 years, I felt like I had done enough to earn a job,” said Gagner, the son of former Leaf Dave Gagner.
“I think you just learn to expect anything in this business.”
Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe is certainly glad to have him as the Marlies began defence of their Calder Cup championship on Friday night.
“It’s a nice addition for us,” Keefe said Thursday after Gagner’s first practice with the Marlies. “It will take time for him to get comfortable, and get acclimated to the American Hockey League. But it’s nice to able to a veteran of his ability.”
A sixth-overall pick of the Oilers in 2007, Gagner never quite lived up to his billing in Edmonton and has gone from team to team — Arizona, Philadelphia, Columbus and Vancouver — over the last four seasons. He has spent all of nine games in the minors — with Lehigh Valley in 2015-16.
“To get a chance to come here and just play, I’m excited about it,” Gagner said. “It’s an opportunity for me to prove I can play at a high level, get some swagger to my game, and go from there.”