The Ottawa Senators have hired Sam Gagner as director of player development, the club announced Thursday.
Gagner, 35, just wrapped up his pro career, spending the 2024-25 season with the Senators’ AHL affiliate in Belleville, where he notched 10 assists in 19 games.
He was hired for the role by Steve Staios, a former Edmonton Oilers teammate of three years who took over as the Senators’ president of hockey operations and general manager ahead of the 2023-24 season.s
“Sam had an incredible career as a player and we look forward to launching his next chapter,” says Staios. “A true character individual, Sam has contributed to the success of his organizations, both on and off the ice.”
Gagner was drafted by the Oilers sixth overall in the 2007 season, spending parts of nine seasons with the team over his 18-year pro career. His first seven years were in Edmonton, scoring 101 goals and 295 points in 481 games. The Oilers then traded him to the Tampa Bay Lightning in June 2014 for forward Teddy Purcell, getting flipped the same day to the Arizona Coytotes.
It kicked off a tumultuous time in his career where he bounced between teams, having stints in Arizona, Philadelphia, Columbus and Vancouver before returning to Edmonton in the 2018-19 season in a trade that saw them send Ryan Spooner the other way. He lasted just a season and a half before he was traded from Edmonton again, this time to the Detroit Red Wings in a deal that brought back Andreas Athanasiou.
He remained in Detroit for three years, spending the 2022-23 season with the Winnipeg Jets, before signing with the Oilers for his final NHL stint in 2023-24. He played in 28 games in the regular season that year, spending the playoffs as one of the Oilers’ Black Aces.
It was a difficult time for Gagner, who said last year during the Stanley Cup Finals he had to learn how to accept failure.
“I think my relationship with failure has come a long way,” he said. “I understand more now that that’s part of it, that’s part of having success.
“I’ve overcome some challenges in my career that have helped me understand that perspective, and now I almost get excited when I go through adversity because it’s just another challenge. It’s kind of really helped me to frame it that way, and it’s why I’ve been able to continue to play.
“You have to enjoy doing hard things, and this is really hard. But I’ve learned to love it over the years.”
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.
