Gagner happy to be back with Red Wings

Forward Sam Gagner was with the Red Wings for only three weeks but it was enough to see that they wanted to bring him back.
On Saturday, the Wings announced they had signed Gagner to a one-year contract extension.

On the Feb. 24 trade deadline day, the Wings sent forwards Andreas Athanasiou and Ryan Kuffner to the Edmonton Oilers for Gagner, a second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft and a second-round pick in the 2021 draft.
Gagner, 31, has played 844 NHL games with the Oilers, Arizona Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Vancouver Canucks and the Wings.
Gagner had one goal in six games with the Wings after the trade before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the league to pause the season and eventually ended Detroit's season after just 71 games.

On an afternoon Zoom call, Gagner talked about why he wanted to return to Detroit.
"I thought I was treated really well, personally, and then my family as well," Gagner said. "That's something that's really important, that you really value as you go along in your career and start raising a family, how the organization treats your family and treats you as a player. I think you look at the new arena, the staff, everything, the guys in the room.
"It was a really short time, so it's really hard for me to say anything more than that but I really enjoyed the three weeks I was there playing and looking forward to coming back and getting an opportunity to show what I'm capable of as a player and looking forward to helping the group."

Even though it was only a brief time in Detroit, Gagner felt there was a possibility he could return.
"When I first got traded there, we had talked about the fact there was an opportunity to be part of things longer-term than just from the trade deadline on," Gagner said. "For myself personally, I just wanted to put my best foot forward and give everything I had in the short time I was there. I thought I played well, I thought I played hard. It's a good group of guys in a tough circumstance.
"I think for everybody, it's going to be a nice reset, the long offseason, for us to come back refreshed and ready to go. I was happy when talks picked up over the last week or so. Obviously really excited to get back there and get going. It's a storied franchise with a lot of history and something I'm happy to be a part of."

Gagner, the son of longtime NHLer Dave Gagner, was born in London, Ontario, which is not terribly far from Detroit, so he was already familiar with the Wings organization before joining it.
He also still has some family in that area.
Even after he returned to Edmonton to be with his wife and three children, Gagner felt enough of a part of the Detroit community that he made a donation to Forgotten Harvest and invited Detroit fans who were able to do so to join him.

All of these things combined to make it an easy decision for Gagner to come back.
"Getting back into the negotiations, I feel I was mentally refreshed, got a chance to talk to Steve (Yzerman, executive vice president and general manager) and I was really excited about the opportunity to come back to Detroit and continue to prove myself as a player and help the team take another step forward," Gagner said. "So it was a pretty easy negotiation, just looking forward to getting going here."
In those six games with the Wings, the goal that Gagner scored came on the power play, which is an area he knows he can help the team improve.
"I think that me being a right shot kind of adds a different dynamic to that power play so that's something that I think can help," Gagner said. "But there's a lot of skill and I think having (Anthony) Mantha healthy towards the end there certainly helped. I think the more we got a chance to play together, the more chemistry we got, the easier our reads were and I think just the more repetitions you get, the better off it becomes. I'm excited about the opportunity to continue to help in that area and I think I'm confident in my ability to help there."
Yzerman, speaking on a Zoom call after the Wings made a trade that brought veteran defenseman Marc Staal and a second-round pick in the 2021 draft from the New York Rangers for future considerations, said Gagner plus a hole.
"One, he's a right-shot forward, he's good on the power play," Yzerman said. "I think right now off the top of my head, we have Luke Glendening as our only right-shot forward. We felt he fit in, particularly being a right shot, being able to play on the power play and being a high-quality, character person. Again, that goes with Marc. Trying to add these veteran guys that can help our younger players, not only fill a hole on the roster but help the culture, help the locker room and again, I guess help the entire organization really."
All players are used to a specific offseason schedule, knowing when to get their offseason rest and when to start ramping it back up before training camp.
Due to the pandemic, there is still uncertainty as to when camp will begin and when the regular season will be able to get underway so Gagner has made adjustments to his offseason routine.
"It's been so long I've tried to break it up into three different offseasons," Gagner said. "The first one being we weren't sure if we were going to come back to play so I was just preparing as if we were going to be in the bubble so I was in good shape at that point. Then I took a little time off. Then kind of as playoffs progressed, started training hard again and I'll probably take another break once we figure out kind of what next season's going to look like and try and figure out the best way to go about getting ready for the season. I feel if the season were to start tomorrow, I'd be ready but there's still a long time yet. Gotta try and make sure that you're coming into the season ready to go and looking forward to whenever that may be."
During the extended time at home and following the worldwide protests after the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, Gagner posted a heartfelt statement on his Instagram account on June 3 about racism.
Instagram from @sgagner89: I feel as though I have been sheltered from racism my entire life. I have never dealt with any type of oppression. I don't know what that type of pain and suffering feels like. I grew up playing minor hockey with Akim Aliu and while I knew he and others I have played with and against had dealt with racism, I never really recognized or understood the extent of it. It breaks my heart that anyone would have to go through something like that in order to play the game that they love. I believe most teams I have been apart of have fostered an environment of inclusivity regardless of race, but the truth is we could have done better, just as we need to do better today. I don't understand how it's possible to treat anyone differently based on race, and I can't even fathom the pain that comes with that. I know it needs to change. I don't know how we get there, but staying silent won't help. I believe in order to move forward it is important to listen and to educate ourselves and our children on the issues at hand. I will continue to look for ways to do exactly that and encourage everyone to do the same. We all have a voice and when we see injustice it is important to use it. Above all, we all need to show love and compassion for one another as we find a way forward. Colorofchange.orgBlacklivesmatters.carrd.co
"I grew up playing minor hockey with Akim Aliu and while I knew he and others I have played with and against had dealt with racism, I never really recognized or understood the extent of it," Gagner wrote.
Gagner said he did reach out to some of his friends about the issue in an effort to learn more.
"The time's been really impactful. I think with COVID, with everyone being in their homes and kind of being aware of everything that's happening, I think it's been a good thing," Gagner said. "I've had a chance to talk with a few people. Mark Fraser's a guy who I played with in Edmonton who I've become really good friends with and just talked about some of the things that he's gone through.
"What I've said to him is I'm kind of here in any way to help and just kind of try to see it through his eyes. I think the NHL's done a really good job of it and we just gotta continue to move forward and try and help each other as much as we can."
In addition to taking part in anti-racism efforts, Gagner is looking forward to helping guide some of the young Wings as they continue to work through a rebuild.
"I think I've handled a lot of adversity in my career and I think you grow from that," Gagner said. "I think you can be a lot of help in that area for young players. I don't think I'd still be around if I just gave in when adversity happened. I'm gonna continue to push to play as long as I can and be an important part of the Wings. When adversity does strike, as it does every season, I think I'm very well-versed in handling that and hopefully it can rub off on some of the young leaders."