Lukas Bernasiewicz
Longtime veteran NHL forward and Oakville’s own Sam Gagner has returned to the NHL after signing a one-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers.
This will be Gagner’s third time playing for the Oilers. The average annual value of this new contract is $775,000.
Gagner was drafted by Edmonton back in 2006, playing the first seven years of his NHL career in Oil country. He then reunited with the Oilers in 2018 after stints in Arizona, Philadelphia, Columbus, and Vancouver. He even played in the AHL for Lehigh Valley, Toronto, and Bakersfield during that time.
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Gagner’s reunion with Edmonton lasted all of two seasons, in the 2019-20 season he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings where he spent three seasons and last year he played with the Winnipeg Jets.
Before this season began, Gagner signed a Professional Tryout Contract with Edmonton to help rehabilitate both of his hips after an off-season surgery.
After the rehabilitation, Gagner signed an AHL contract with the Oilers AHL affiliate the Bakersfield Condors where Sam scored five points in three games.
Once the Oilers cleared cap space, they signed Gagner to the roster.
Gagner spoke to the media on Wednesday about how his recovery from surgery is progressing.
"I played three games [in Bakersfield] with two of them on a back-to-back and played a good amount of minutes and they held up really well…the hips feel great and I’m excited to go."
Gagner joins a similar Oilers team to the one he played on back in 2019: he'll rejoin the likes of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisatl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Darnell Nurse.
His task now is to help the struggling Oilers get back on track as they look to turn around their season after a win at the Heritage Classic and look to become a playoff team once again.
