When Sam Gagner re-signed with the Red Wings, he spoke about his desire to mentor the Red Wings’ younger players. Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff took note of the 31-year-old Gagner’s remarks:
Selected sixth overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2007 NHL entry draft, Gagner spent his first seven seasons with the Oilers as they rebuilt from the ground floor. He’s seen that process from the point of view of an incoming NHLer. Now that he’s a veteran skating in a similar scenario in Detroit, Gagner is drawing upon those lessons as he seeks to mentor young Red Wings through the same situation.
“It allows me to see it from a different perspective and kind of help our young group coming up,” Gagner said. “A lot of the things they’re going to go through early in their careers I’ve been through.
“I was a high pick in Edmonton, one of the guys that was kind of expected to help turn things around. You learn a lot about yourself and there’s a lot of growth that comes with that.
“Handling that adversity has made me a better person. It helps in the situation that I’m in now, being able to kind of impart some of that on our young group.”
