Sam Gagner

Sam Gagner (born Sam William Gagner on August 10, 1989) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player currently playing for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round (sixth overall) of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and played there for the first seven years of his NHL career.

Amateur Playing Career
Sam played midget hockey with the Toronto Marlboros of the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL) in 2004–05.

He scored 173 points and was awarded the Buck Houle Award, a Marlboros team award given for outstanding on ice performance and leadership.

During that same season, Sam made his junior debut, playing 13 games for the Milton Icehawks of the OPJHL, scoring 15 points.

In 2005–06, Sam joined the Sioux City Musketeers of the United States Hockey League (USHL) and scored 46 points in 56 games, second in team scoring. He originally committed to play hockey at the collegiate level for the University of Wisconsin–Madison, but later decided to stay closer to home by playing for a Canadian major junior hockey team.

Considered a first round talent, the Ontario Hockey League (OHL)'s London Knights selected him in the fourth round of the 2006 OHL Entry Draft on a flyer, as his commitment to play college hockey deterred many OHL teams from drafting him.

Joined by future NHL stars Patrick Kane and Sergei Kostitsyn on the Knights' top line in 2006–07, Sam scored 118 points in 53 games, fifth in OHL scoring. He also captained Team Burns/Bergeron (Red) in the 2007 CHL Top Prospects Game to a 5–3 victory over Team Bowman/Demers (White).

Professional Playing Career
Sam was drafted in the first round, sixth overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. On October 1, 2007, he was then signed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Oilers.

Sam played his first NHL game on October 4 in a 3–2 shootout victory over the San Jose Sharks and earned his first NHL point, assisting on a goal scored by defenceman Tom Gilbert.

On October 20, 2007, he scored his first career NHL goal against Miikka Kiprusoff of the Calgary Flames.

As the NHL's youngest player in 2007–08, Sam tallied 49 points in 79 games playing between wingers and fellow rookies Andrew Cogliano and Robert Nilsson on a combination dubbed the "Kid Line."

During the season, he participated in the 2008 NHL YoungStars Game in Atlanta as part of All-Star weekend and was also named the NHL Rookie of the Month for February.

As part of a month-long scoring stretch in which he scored 13 points in 12 games, Sam also established an Oilers team record for the longest assists streak by a rookie with nine in eight straight games.

The next season (2008–09), Sam recorded his first career NHL hat-trick and added an assist for a four-point game in an 8–1 win against the Colorado Avalanche on March 19, 2009.

He finished his sophomore season with 16 goals and 41 points in 76 games. In the following two campaigns, he posted 41- and 42-point efforts.

On March 9, 2011, Sam severed a tendon in his left hand while facing the Washington Capitals when teammate Ryan Jones caught him with a skate blade while jumping over the boards.

Requiring surgery, he was sidelined for the remainder of the 2010–11 season, as well as one month into the following campaign, making his return to the Oilers line-up on October 22, 2011.

Several months later, on February 2, 2012, Sam scored four goals and four assists against the Chicago Blackhawks, tying the team record of eight points, previously set by Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey.

The feat also made him the 13th NHL player of all time to score eight or more points in a single game and the first since Mario Lemieux did it in 1989.

Two days later, he scored two goals and added an assist in the first period against the Detroit Red Wings, setting a new Oilers record with 11 consecutive points, previously held by Gretzky, who scored ten consecutive points twice his career.

Sam finished the season with 47 points over 75 games, with nearly a quarter of his output having occurred in that two-game stretch.

During the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Sam signed with Klagenfuter AC of the Eishockey Liga in Austria. On July 22, 2013, shortly after the end of the 2012–13 season, the Oilers signed him to a three-year contract extension worth an average annual value of $4.8 million.

On June 29, 2014, the Tampa Bay Lightning acquired Sam in exchange for Teddy Purcell. However, he only spent an hour as a member of the Lightning before then being acquired by the Arizona Coyotes along with B.J. Crombeen in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

During the Coyotes' training camp ahead of the 2014–15 season, Arizona Head Coach Dave Tippett experimented utilizing Gagner on the right wing instead of his natural centre position, where he played in a pre-season, 5–4 shootout victory over the Los Angeles Kings.

On December 23, 2014, Sam scored two goals and two assists against his former team, the Oilers, in a 5–1 Arizona victory at Rexall Place in Edmonton.

With Arizona, he found chemistry playing on a line with centre Martin Hanzal; the two combined for 16 in just five games in December of 2014 and January of 2015.

On June 27, 2015, Sam was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers along with a conditional third or fourth round draft pick in return for Nicklas Grossmann and the contract of Chris Pronger.

International Play
Sam competed for Canada at the 2007 World Junior Championships in Sweden, playing in all six games as the youngest player on the team, helping Canada to their third of five-straight gold medals.

Later that year, upon being selected in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, he competed in the 2007 Super Series, an eight-game series between Canada's and Russia's national junior teams commemorating the 1972 Summit Series. He scored 15 points and was named series MVP, as Canada defeated Russia 7–0–1 in the series.

After Gagner's 2007–08 rookie season with the Oilers, Sam made his senior international debut with Canada in the 2008 World Championships in Canada as a reserve. He played in one preliminary game as Canada was defeated in the gold medal game by Russia.

Accolades

 * Buck Houle Award (Toronto Marlboros team award; outstanding on ice performance) - 2004
 * World Junior Gold Medal – 2007
 * World Championships Silver Medal – 2008
 * Super Series MVP – 2007
 * NHL YoungStars Game appearance – 2008
 * NHL Rookie of the Month – February 2008
 * Edmonton Oilers Rookie of the Year – 2008 (shared with Andrew Cogliano and Tom Gilbert)
 * Edmonton Oilers Most Points in a Single Game – 8 (shared with Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey)
 * Edmonton Oilers Most Points in a Single Period – 5 (shared with Jari Kurri)
 * Edmonton Oilers Most Consecutive Points – 11
 * Winner of the 2012 Spengler Cup with Canada

Personal Life
Sam is the son of former NHL player Dave Gagner, who spent 15 seasons with New York, Minnesota, Dallas, Calgary, Toronto, Florida and Vancouver.

Due to his dad's career, Sam Gagner grew up in Minneapolis, Dallas, Toronto, Calgary, Miami and Oakville, Ontario.

His sister, Jessica Gagner, currently plays hockey for the Dartmouth Big Green women's ice hockey program.

In his rookie year, Sam lived in a house provided by Edmonton Oilers captain Ethan Moreau along with teammates Andrew Cogliano and Tom Gilbert. In the summer of 2009, Gilbert bought his own house while Sam and Cogliano each got apartments in Edmonton in the same complex.

During the off-season, Sam goes back to his hometown of London, Ontario.

On July 12, 2014, Sam married his longtime girlfriend Rachel Linke in Muskoka, Ontario.