New Wave Of Players Looking To Bump Gagner Down The '06 Draft Pecking Order

For years we have heard about how well Gagner has been doing relative to his draft class (albeit a very weak draft class) and how his accomplishments at such an early age are outstanding and that they stack up well through the tests of time. Well ladies and gentlemen the cat is out of the bag, there are other players that are climbing the ranks in a hurry while Gagner seems to be spinning his wheels living off his past "glory".

Both Kyle Turris and James Van Riemsdyk have yet to hit their strides at the NHL level for various reasons so this isn't a complete snuff piece on Gagner as he could very well progress, I'm just showing that while many point to the past as indication that he is going to amount to something significant and that he is head and shoulders above much of his draft class, there are others catching up and passing Gagner. Meanwhile his game stagnates at the NHL level despite getting top PP and ice time with our best forwards.

Here are fellow '07 draftees that are making their marks in the NHL this season.

Patrick Kane 23gp. 8-14-22 PP TOI 86:23 Total TOI 470:52

Jakub Voracek 20gp. 5-9-14 PP TOI 73:24 Total TOI 342:16

Logan Couture 20gp. 8-4-12 PP TOI 63:36 Total TOI 347:33

Sam Gagner 21gp. 5-6-11 PP TOI 64:01 Total TOI 373:58

Jamie Benn 17gp. 3-7-10 PP TOI 40:07 Total TOI 269:06

Jame Van Riemsdyk 19gp. 2-7-9 PP TOI 16:35 Total TOI 262:47

Brandon Sutter 21gp. 4-5-9 PP TOI 22:47 Total TOI 362:16

P.K. Subban 22gp. 1-8-9 PP TOI 81:39 Total TOI 454:51

David Perron 10gp. 5-2-7 PP TOI 45:01 Total TOI 184:11

Kevin Shattenkirk 11gp. 3-4-7 PP TOI 32:34 Total TOI 224:01

Wayne Simmonds 21gp. 4-3-7 PP TOI 18:33 Total TOI 262:31

Kyle Turris 15gp. 4-2-6 PP TOI 20:15 Total TOI 165:54

TJ Galiardi 14gp. 3-3-6 PP TOI 16:04 Total TOI 240:53


The gap is closing and unlike Gagner, a lot of these kids have something to fall back on when they aren't producing offensively. Oh well, at least we can all take solace that he was the 2nd leading scorer in this draft early in his career while others catch and surpass him, as if what he did in his first three seasons means sweet fuck all in the present or the long run if he can't start building on them.