Gagner itching to be on playoff team

VOORHEES It took a few days before the madness stopped for Sam Gagner.

He was traded from Arizona to Philadelphia moments after this summer’s draft and wasn’t even sure if his new team wanted to keep him.

The 26-year-old forward was hearing that he was a candidate to be bought out with the Arizona Coyotes, the team that he had spent only one year with. This came after seven years on bad Edmonton Oilers teams where he showed flashes of greatness, but had his best season as a rookie with 49 points.

“I think I’m probably more fueled by how it ended in Phoenix,” Gagner said. “I thought I had a good second half there. I thought I played hard. It was a kind of a tough circumstance and I felt like I played hard through it all. The way it ended, it kind of threw me off a little bit and I think all it does is get you fuel going into the next year. I’m excited to prove to Philly that they made the right choice in keeping me.”

At the beginning, that wasn’t a slam-dunk.

The Flyers had shed Chris Pronger’s salary (the Hall of Famer will never play again) and $3 million of Nick Grossmann’s $3.5 million in the trade and weren’t sure they could afford to keep Gagner, whom they like as a player but briefly considered buying out because of financial reasons. The team is under the salary cap by only $583,000 and change, room for only one call-up.

Gagner wasn’t thrilled about the wait and also had the stress of soon becoming a father for the first time. His son Cooper was born two weeks ago and the Flyers kept him, so all is well now. He’s motivated so show that he can be a force in the NHL.

“He comes in with a ton of skill,” said goalie Steve Mason, who was a teammate of Gagner’s with the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights in the 2006-07 season. “He’s got a pedigree where there’s still room for him to get even better, I think. Coming into this situation, I think he’s excited about the opportunity that he has here. It didn’t pan out the past couple seasons, but I came in here with a new opportunity. (Michael Del Zotto) came in with an opportunity. Sammy’s in the same position. He’s got a great fresh start here and I think he’s ready to take advantage of it.”

Since being drafted sixth overall by the Oilers in 2007 and being thrown into the mix right away, probably too early, Gagner hasn’t exactly met expectations. After his first campaign, in which he finished seventh in Calder Trophy voting as the league’s best rookie, he wasn’t able to keep improving. He’s played in 562 NHL games, but hasn’t sniffed the playoffs once.

“Growing up, that’s all I knew: playing in the playoffs,” Gagner said. “That’s the best part of hockey, getting to that level and rising to that occasion. I haven’t had a chance to do that yet and I’m excited for the opportunity here to do that.”

The question becomes: where does Gagner fit in? A natural center, he has experience playing both wings. On the Canadian World Juniors team in 2007 he was the center and Claude Giroux was the right wing, but the Flyers’ captain won’t be asked to move from his center position.

It’s possible that Gagner, who had 15 goals last season, three shy of a career high, may be asked to play the left side on Giroux’s line with Jake Voracek. Michael Raffl was there for most of last season and racked up 21 goals, way up from nine in his first NHL season.

“In the end, it’s about how we click together,” said Voracek, a first-time All-Star last season. “Things with Raff, I think we played really well last year. He’s exactly the guy to help us to be better on the ice and he’s working really hard. It’s a question for (first-year head coach Dave Hakstol). I can’t really judge that. I’m sure that me and G, with another year of experience under our belt, there’s no reason why we can’t get better.”

Gagner is trying not to think about that. Last time he was traded, from Edmonton to Arizona, he tried looking at the roster and figuring out where he might fit on the depth chart and he wasn’t pleased.

“There’s a lot of different spots in the lineup that I can fill in,” Gagner said, “and that’s why I try to work on things so I can be ready for any position and any role and I think for me I’ve just got to come in and play my game and try and help us win as many games as possible and make the playoffs.”

Dave Isaac; (856) 486-2479; disaac@gannettnj.com .