As July dragged on, Sam Gagner remained unsigned. Despite there not being many suitors inquiring for his services, he wasn’t contemplating heading to Europe with his wife and young son. He still felt he could provide value to some NHL team.

Then the Columbus Blue Jackets called and a deal was struck: one-year, $650,000. Little did GM Jarmo Kekalainen know on August 1, that contract would become one the best values over the first half of the 2016-17 NHL season.

“It was a tough few weeks. You want when free agency rolls around to have some options to make your pick, but when Columbus did come forward it was exciting for me,” Gagner told Yahoo Sports this week. “They believe in my skillset and I felt like I could help them win. That gave me confidence and I’m happy it worked out the way it did.”

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Columbus was also a great fit because of Gagner’s ties to the organization. Kekalainen scouted him when he played for the OHL’s London Knights. Director of Player Personnel Basil McRae played with his father, Dave, and has known the forward since he was a kid. Blue Jackets assistant GM Bill Zito is a former agent who also knew Gagner’s dad.

For Gagner, who’s been on four teams in the last four years (five if you want to count his very brief stay with the Tampa Bay Lightning), feeling comfortable was important as he prepared to move his yet family again. It helped that he had plenty of experience in that department after jumping around North America as his dad finished his NHL career by playing on four teams in his final five seasons.

“I’ve seen a lot of North America in my day,” he said. “Those are life experiences you always enjoy. You get a chance to meet new people and see different things and be part of different communities. That’s always fun. You’ve just got take it as a positive and enjoy the process. It’s been a lot of fun.”

Gagner credits his Blue Jackets teammates with welcoming him and other new players to town with open arms and letting them know that their roles with the club are valued.

Columbus’ success this season has been helped by Gagner, who is second in goals with 13 and fourth on the team with 25 points. Not bad for a guy who missed time last season due to a concussion and was waived and sent to the AHL for nine games as his offense struggled. When he returned to the Philadelphia Flyers’ lineup, however, he got back on track and regained his confidence.

“It was just a matter of just creating that mindset where I kept pushing forward and believing,” he said. “I think it’s paid dividends this year for sure.”

Gagner’s success is one part of a larger picture – that being what the Blue Jackets are currently doing to the rest of the NHL. Through 31 games, they have 48 points, which is best in the Eastern Conference and tied with the Chicago Blackhawks for tops in the entire NHL. They’re currently riding an 11-game winning streak and have the fourth-most goals scored with 108, which includes the seven they put up Thursday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the 10 against the Montreal Canadiens and eight versus the St. Louis Blues in November.

So what’s clicking now that perhaps wasn’t earlier on?

“I think we’ve grown as a team throughout the year,” Gagner said. “We’ve done a really good of putting the past behind us and if we have a good game or a bad game we kind of park it and move on to the next one, which, I think, during a streak like this is something you’ve got to do. You obviously have to have a little bit of luck, as well.”

Luck helps. Talent helps. Coaching helps. John Tortorella, Gagner says, talks a lot about having the right mindset, being mentally strong and approaching things the right way. They haven’t let the few setbacks they’ve had this season derail their focus, and look what’s happened.

The Blue Jackets are the best story of the NHL’s first half, but there are some – maybe even a few people on this very website – who are waiting for the regression to begin. That may arrive at some point this season. It may not, however. Any doubts aren’t seeping into the Columbus room right now, though. Tortorella won’t allow it, and neither will the players.

Even though the Blue Jackets are a young team – the 27-year-old Gagner is the sixth-oldest player on the roster – there’s an understanding that there will be bumps in the road over the course of 82 games. But as he said, the mindset has been working to put any bad nights quickly in the rearview mirror.

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