Sam Gagner To The Marlies ?

[The Iceman]

I’m old enough to remember when we wanted to trade for this guy.

does that make you 20 years old?

 

[JEI]

I like this addition. Marlies lack a skilled centre. Gagner can be that player at this level.

 

[Eddy Punch Clock]

Owe us one? Can we talk Tanev?

Sure. Tanev and Gagner @50% and we'll take that greedy disgruntled Nylander of your hands for you. Hell, we'll even throw in Virtanen who we picked two spots before Nylander. Thats how nice of a guy I am.

 

[DarkKnight]

does that make you 20 years old?

It makes you lame.

 

[Fogelhund]

Sure. Tanev and Gagner @50% and we'll take that greedy disgruntled Nylander of your hands for you. Hell, we'll even throw in Virtanen who we picked two spots before Nylander. Thats how nice of a guy I am.

What was that? We must have a poor connection. I'll have to call you back.

 

[Faltorvo]

So Gagner is just loaned to the Marlies? Not good enough for the Leafs to pick up?

I'm guessing if they like him the Nucks will just give him to us...

wake up

SG 2 years ay 3.15 m??? no thanks.

 

[hockeywiz542]

Sam Gagner arrival gives Marlies a boost on eve of season opener | The Star

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 have 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.

That’s where Tavares came in.

“He offered up a room for me,” said Gagner, now 29 and 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 is not short on familiar faces in the Marlies’ locker room. He trains with Josh Jooris, another NHL veteran finding himself with the Marlies. He knows veteran Rich Clune. He is tutored by Barb Underhill, the organization’s skating consultant who was on hand Thursday. And he fought Vincent LoVerde in the USHL at 16.

“We have some history,” said Gagner, smiling.

This kind of demotion is a bit of a kick to the gut, said forward Colin Greening. It happened to him twice: Once after three seasons with Ottawa, and again with the Maple Leafs cutting him after camp in 2016.

“It takes a little adjustment, it bruises the ego,” said Greening. “You get accustomed to playing in the NHL, then essentially you’re told you’re not good enough to play there. That’s where you have to be mentally strong. You have to appreciate that you’re still playing hockey, that it’s still the same game."

 

[Boutette]

wake up

SG 2 years ay 3.15 m??? no thanks.

Could be a plan be if/when Nylander is traded. Gagner is probably at this point a better player than Ennis, so your likely looking at that much closer to what Nylander would bring. For 3 mil that's not bad if you can spend the balance on improving the team RD.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Could be a plan be if/when Nylander is traded. Gagner is probably at this point a better player than Ennis, so your likely looking at that much closer to what Nylander would bring. For 3 mil that's not bad if you can spend the balance on improving the team RD.

Nylander is not getting traded and if he did you sure as hell do not replace him with Ganger

 

[Boutette]

Nylander is not getting traded and if he did you sure as hell do not replace him with Ganger

Nylander is certainly acting like he wants to be traded.

 

[stickty111]

Nylander is certainly acting like he wants to be traded.

Marner is too since he hasnt signed yet.

 

[Boutette]

Marner is too since he hasnt signed yet.

They how is Marner on the leafs roster and playing and Nylander is back at home in Sweden? You need to get off that cough medicine you are slugging back.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Nylander is not getting traded and if he did you sure as hell do not replace him with Ganger

or Dubas is acting like he doesn't want Nylander

 

[TAYGB52]

He looked okay tonight. Didn’t see the whole game but what I did see of him, I liked. I think he’ll fit in nicely with this group.

 

[hockeywiz542]

Surprised by his demotion, Sam Gagner is resolved to prove...

So it came as a surprise to Gagner and those who know him in the hockey world when he was sent to the Toronto Marlies at the start of this season by way of his Vancouver Canucks. Gagner’s 31 points in 74 games last season made him the Canucks’ sixth-highest scorer. With the since-retired Daniel and Henrik Sedin no longer around, only Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat and Alex Edler stood ahead of him on the current roster. The year before, he posted 50 points in 81 games (good for fifth on the Columbus Blue Jackets), which is what earned him a three-year deal in Vancouver.

“He’s NHL talent, there’s no question about that. I think what got him back to the NHL with us just playing games and minutes – and that was the biggest thing. It’s not like he had to come down here and have an attitude adjustment or need to work on his game,” Phantoms head coach Scott Gordon said on a recent phone call.

“He just needed to play games. And then he found a good spot for himself in Columbus and they used him on the power play and he played a certain role. I don’t know how it played out for him in Vancouver but he’s certainly a guy I’m sure that if a team is looking for somebody to add skill and someone on the power play, that there will be a lot of people who will have some interest in him just because he has that capability. Players that have that experience, they can certainly fill a role pretty quickly.”

Among those most surprised by Gagner’s demotion: Childhood friend John Tavares. This summer, when Gagner was the best man in Tavares’ wedding, the pair also trained together — like they always do — for exciting seasons ahead in Vancouver and Toronto. When Gagner settled on a move to Toronto, rather than heading to the Canucks’ affiliate in Utica, N.Y., Tavares was among the first of his old teammates to reach out and offer him a place to stay.

“We’re still extremely close. Our families spend time together. I’ve got to know his two young boys and his wife really well. I was definitely really, really surprised, especially after the commitment Vancouver made to him last summer and the way he was feeling coming into this summer,” Tavares said.

“He has always had a great attitude, a great work ethic, and he is not a guy to take anything for granted. We push each other. I know it hasn’t been easy on him. But he has really taken it in stride and he looks at this adversity as a challenge for himself and find a way to grow his game and obviously work his way back to the league. There’s no question he has the skill set, the work ethic and the right attitude, so I expect him to be back in the league soon.”

Interest hasn’t yet materialized, though.

That’s not for a lack of support. Gagner is surrounded by his father Dave, a mega-agent in the hockey world, the Bobby Orr Group and its lead, Jeff Jackson. They credit him for the way he has handled what was, in the moment, a true shock to all involved.

 

[lifelonghockeyfan]

Gagner might not even be the Marlies best centre. Mueller might be. Meuller seems to the classic AHL vet, very steady and good who had just a bit of NHL experience early in his career. But for whatever reason...skating?, isn't deemed to be an NHLer.