Is Gagner About To Get Passed Like He's Standing Still?

After being seen as the future face of the Edmonton Oilers for three seasons, will Sam Gagner end up being just an afterthought in the very near future? Hall is obviously the new Sheriff in town, but beyond that there's Paajarvi, Eberle, and even young Tyler Pitlick that could soon surpass a seemingly stalled out Gagner.

Gagner is like a truck stuck in third gear, he got through first and second in a hurry, but now the engine is screaming while he's just trying to do the speed limit. While Eberle and Paajarvi toiled in the WHL and SEL respectively, Gagner gained NHL experience. What has he actually done with that experience? Will he finally take the bull by the horns this year? At what point does he go from cornerstone to spare part?

At this point if Gagner wants a lengthy career in Edmonton he had better hope that Taylor Hall sticks to being a winger. If Hall becomes a center and Pitlick continues to progress into a big and physical second line center, Gagner becomes trade bait.

I guess it can be seen as a positive sign that all of a sudden we potentially have four young forwards under the age of 21 that could turn out to be better than Gagner in the near future, however does that speak to how good they are or how poorly Gagner has progressed? Maybe a bit of both?

Sam Gagner, you're on notice, time to step it up or get passed and lapped by four kids younger than you that have yet to play a second of NHL hockey.

Sam Gagner = Very Ineffective on the Powerplay

Sam Gagner averages 3:02 of PP time per game, that has him tied with Dustin Penner for the 3rd highest average PP TOI on the team in terms of forwards. 160:51 minutes total of PP time and a grand total of 5 PP points to show for that time. 3-2-5 to be exact.

That is a point for every 32:10 of PP time. For a guy that isn't producing much at ES, that is beyond gross. He sits 7th among Oilers forwards in PP points despite getting a heavy push on the PP. It's no wonder why this teams 2nd PP unit is for the most part ineffective. On the other side of the coin you have Kyle Brodziak, Brodziak has 2 PP points in all of 6:36 of PP time. Obviously that pace is impossible to sustain, but why is it that he's had only 6 1/2 minutes on the PP when he's gotten a couple of points in that short amount of time?

While I can understand the coaching staff trying to keep Gagner's confidence up, they still have to ice their best possible lines and special teams units. At this point in time it is rather obvious that Gagner doesn't fit into the latter category.

At this rate the Oilers might want to consider sending Gagner to the AHL next year if his play hasn't come around by then. You can critique his ES production due to quality of competition all that you want, but the fact remains that on the PP he has been beyond bad.