Sam Gagner didn’t come back to Edmonton for a long time, but he did for a good time.

Working his way back from offseason hip surgery, building up with the AHL Condors before joining the Oilers, Gagner only played in 28 games for the big club last year, but he sure made the most of it. He scored 10 points on the year, nine at 5v5, and posted very strong scoring rates. The sample size was small, of course, but his goals per hour rate ranked third behind Zach Hyman and Adam Henrique, and his points per hour rate ranked fifth, behind Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, and Warren Foegele.

Those are great scoring rates for someone who was playing minimal minutes last year, and why there was always an argument to be had for him to play more than he did. While he couldn’t kill penalties, nor spend time on the power play, I still feel the coaching staff should’ve found more ways to get him involved.

Nonetheless, he made the most of his time. With him on the ice, the Oilers controlled the shot attempt share, scoring chance share and expected goal share, but lost the actual goal battle 12-10. Not a huge number, but that was largely due to a .886 on-ice save percentage. 18 of 28 games Gagner played in the NHL this season came during November and December, with his final game in the 2023 calendar year being Dec. 21, right when the Oilers kicked off their 16-game winning streak.

He drove offence at a four percent rate below league average, and defence at a two percent rate above league average, enough to provide contributions equivalent to a high-end third-line player, according to hockeyviz.com.

During the time Gagner played those games, the Oilers were 14-15-1 outscoring the opposition 104-103.

Gagner settled into a “good-in-the-room” role with the team, spending time down the stretch run of the season and all of the playoffs as an extra forward. During the Stanley Cup Finals, I spoke with Gagner, who said he had to learn how to have a relationship with failure as he worked through a new part of his hockey journey.

“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.”

Unsigned through the early days of August, Gagner is unlikely to carve out a role beyond that of a 13th forward in the NHL, despite his strong contributions.

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.