Funny. You must be a blind Gagner supporter to say that.
If anything it's an understatement.
I am, more often than not in my groups of friends, a Gagner supporter.
I think he is a good player and if he can take just another decent step in how he plays the game defensively, he is a legit/elite #2 NHL center.
Arco's defensive game and positioning make Gagner look like the rookie rather than visa versa.
If arco comes out and scores a couple goals in the next couple games I don't know what you do with Gagner when comes back.
It is too small a sample to flush Gagner and put the hero hat on Arco but there is no question that Arco is superior to Gagner to date.
It's probably time to put the Mark Arcobello flavoured kool-aid down and think about this objectively for a moment or two.
Sam Gagner
400+ NHL games, 250+ points, recently signed a 3 year deal to pay him 14.4M
Mark Acrobello
11 NHL games, 10 points, recently signed a 1 year deal to pay him 0.6M
If you think for one second that Sam Gagner, former 6th overall draft pick and recipient of 6 years of development from within the organization, is going to lose his 2nd line center spot to a 25 year old NHL rookie with 11 games and a stats line bolstered by playing with Hall and Eberle, you're going to be very disappointed.
The only way Arcobello takes Gagner's spot on the depth chart is if Gagner comes back from his injury and he's a complete defensive liability for a month straight.
Players get hot, it happens. Hell, Gagner once got 80% of Arcobellos total NHL production in 33 minutes and 23 seconds of one game. It's probably a little early to give Sam's job to Mark.