The Carolina Hurricanes are expected to sign veteran forward Sam Gagner to a professional tryout, per PuckPedia. Gagner is a veteran of 17 NHL seasons, making his debut with the Edmonton Oilers in 2007 after going sixth overall in the 2007 NHL Draft. He’s gone on to play for seven different NHL clubs across his career and will have a chance to add an eighth on this PTO.
Gagner made his NHL debut at 18, ultimately earning 13 goals and 49 points as a rookie while filling a consistent second-line role. He proceeded to fill that role and match that production through the next 11 seasons, persisting through tours around the Pacific and Metropolitan Divisions. He was a reliable glue piece for lineups in flux and continued to find NHL relevancy even after his production started to dip. But injuries have proven fickle throughout his later years with the 2021-22 campaign standing as Gagner’s only full season since 2016-17. He’s most recently coming off a double-hip surgery in March 2023 — a procedure that ended his 2022-23 season early, though he did manage to appear in 29 games and score 10 points last season.
Gagner is far from his days of a guaranteed lineup spot, due to both health and performance. But he brings the experience of a 1,000-game pro, who’s played through two decades of NHL hockey. He’s scored 27 points across his last 82 career games, though that stretches back to the 2021-22 season. Still, it’s not unreasonable to think Gagner could manage one more respectable season before facing retirement. He’ll look to begin proving that at Carolina’s training camp, if he indeed signs a tryout deal.
