Sam Gagner excited to prove Flyers made right call keeping him

Upon acquiring Sam Gagner from the Arizona Coyotes this offseason, Ron Hextall was faced with a decision: keep the center, or buy out his contract to free up some much-needed salary cap space.

Ultimately, the Philadelphia Flyers general manager - who shed the salaries of Chris Pronger and Nick Grossman in the trade with Arizona - decided to keep Gagner in the mix, and the 26-year-old is intent on proving the decision right.

"I think I’m probably more fueled by how it ended in Phoenix," Gagner told Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post, referring to Coyotes GM Don Maloney's assertion that he could not play center at at the NHL level.

"I thought I had a good second half there," Gagner continued. "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."

Gagner scored 15 goals and added 26 assists in 81 games for the Coyotes last season, with a career-high 183 shots.

While he may not get the opportunity to prove his worth at the center position with the Flyers, Gagner is just eager to contribute, with an eye on qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in his eight-year career.

"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."

Gagner has one year left on a contract that carries a cap hit of $4.8 million.