Dave Gagner

Playing career

Gagner played two full seasons in the OHL with the Brantford Alexanders, registering 55 goals and 121 points in 70 games during 1982–83 and earning a spot on the OHL Second All-Star Team. The New York Rangers selected him 12th overall in the first round of the 1983 NHL entry draft. He spent parts of several seasons moving between the Rangers and their AHL affiliate, the New Haven Nighthawks, but could not secure a full-time roster spot, partly because scouts considered him too small for an NHL forward.

In 1987 he was traded to the Minnesota North Stars. After an initial stint with Minnesota's farm team in Kalamazoo, he broke out in 1989–90 with 40 goals. His best season came in 1990–91, when he recorded 82 points in 73 games. He remained with the franchise when it moved to Dallas and was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 29, 1996.

After only 28 games in Toronto, he was dealt to the Calgary Flames, where he played the entire 1996–97 season, scoring 27 goals and 60 points in 82 games. In the summer of 1997 he signed as a free agent with the Florida Panthers. On January 17, 1999, he was part of a blockbuster trade that sent him, Ed Jovanovski, Mike Brown, Kevin Weekes, and Florida's first-round pick in the 2000 draft to the Vancouver Canucks for Pavel Bure, Bret Hedican, Brad Ference, and Vancouver's third-round pick in 2000.

Gagner finished the 1998–99 season with the Canucks and announced his retirement on September 29, 1999, ending his NHL career with 719 points in 946 regular-season games.

Post-playing career

In March 2000, Gagner founded Custom Ice Inc., a company that manufactures permanent and portable ice skating rinks. In 2001, he joined an Oakville group that purchased the Milton Icehawks. From 2006 to 2008, he served as an assistant coach for the London Knights of the OHL, where his son Sam played. He also opened a training centre in London. In June 2008, Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis hired Gagner as the team's Director of Player Development, a role he held until September 3, 2013, when he left to work with the Orr Hockey Group player agency as leader of its player-development group. He currently serves as vice president of The.Team as a certified player agent.