James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports
Sam Gagner received many heartfelt messages during the video montage in Winnipeg Thursday night to honor his 1,000th NHL game. Connor McDavid, John Tavares and Taylor Hall were among those who congratulated him – but a note from Alex Edler best encapsulated the 33-year-old.
“You couldn’t ask for a better teammate than yourself,” Edler said to Gagner in the montage.
Many around the league seem to agree.
Rick Bowness said after the 4-2 win over Vancouver that the Winnipeg Jets learned as much as they did their homework on Gagner before signing him to a one-year deal in early September.
“Not a negative word about the guy,” Bowness said of the intel he received. “If you’re going to play this long for the (seven) teams he played on and not have one negative word, it just speaks a lot about (his) character.”
Gagner’s journey to 1,000 games is also rooted in character.
Taken sixth overall at the 2007 NHL draft, Gagner never ascended into the star player many thought he’d become. While the London, Ont. native had shown some flashes of high-end skill – such as scoring eight points in one game in 2012-13 – throughout the earlier part of his 16 seasons, the last few years haven’t been smooth sailing. Gagner was re-assigned to the minors for parts of the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.
“You question how your career is going to end up,” Gagner told reporters Wednesday morning.
That first AHL re-assignment came when the Vancouver Canucks demoted Gagner in the second year of a three-year, $9,450,000-million contract to the Toronto Marlies. But it ended up being a pivotal.
Gagner handled what was undoubtedly a frustrating situation in the best possible way, embracing the guidance of then-Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe.
“Defensively, I needed to be able to re-invent myself to kind of sustain my career, and I felt like a lot of that was happening in the neutral zone, and we talked a lot about that,” Gagner said. “I’ve been able to become a better play driver by being better in the neutral zone and just being better defensively.”
Back then, the prospect of Gagner hitting the four-digit mark in NHL games seemed inconceivable.
“It’s a major tribute to his character and his love of the game,” Bowness pointed out. “You’ve got to love that.”
So far, the courtship between Gagner and the Jets has gone as well as one could imagine.
Gagner’s provided much-needed stability to a forward core that’s become so severely decimated by injuries that it’s nearly unrecognizable. Five of the 12 forwards they dressed against Vancouver have been on waivers at some point this season.
“He’s very calm and composed,” said Pierre-Luc Dubois. “We can laugh a lot with him, but he knows when to turn that switch and to be serious.”
It goes without saying how valuable it’s been to have a veteran that leads the way Gagner does in Winnipeg’s room this season.
“He’s gone through it all as a player and as a pro, and he’s a guy that a lot of guys can look up to and ask questions and learn from,” Scheifele said.
The veteran right winger also isn’t cut from the same cloth as the Jets’ previous “glue guys” (ie, Matt Hendricks and Chris Thorburn). Instead, Gagner – 11 points in 33 games – has been serviceable as a band-aid in the top six and on the power play.
And despite his 516 points in 1,000 NHL games and those AHL stints, he’s still in his early thirties. That doesn’t mean he’s ready to hang up the skates after this season.
“Hopefully, it means I got more left,” Gagner said.
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