The Belleville Senators announced today that veteran forward Sam Gagner has agreed to a professional tryout with the American Hockey League club. The 35-year-old from London, Ontario, was the sixth overall selection to the Edmonton Oilers in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and comes to Belleville after...
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Roster Notes:
The biggest addition is that of 1,000+-game National Hockey League veteran Sam Gagner to the Belleville lineup tonight. The 35-year-old forward from London, Ontario, signed a professional tryout with the Senators today. The hope is that Gagner can provide an offensive spark and more veteran leadership to a team continuing to deal with roster turnover and turmoil. On the injury front, Belleville Sens Head Coach Dave Bell says there’s no update on the conditions of goaltenders Mads Sogaard and Malcolm Subban or forward Tyler Boucher. Defenceman Wyatte Wylie is skating again but is not expected to play tonight, while captain Garrett Pilon will return from a week off. Defenceman Kris Myllari and goaltender Mark Sinclair also remain with the Senators on PTOs. Before the game, you can
click here for a full list of up-to-date transactions, with lineup details available via the B-Sens social channels (@bellevillesens).
Who to Watch:
Senators forward Angus Crookshank has been Belleville’s most consistent producer of late, finding his name on the scoresheet in three straight games (one goal, two assists). The North Vancouver, BC product was the only Senator to score in Hershey last weekend and is sitting on 69 career AHL goals, just seven back of Egor Sokolov for the Belleville Sens franchise lead. Forward Stephen Halliday had an assist last week and, with 24 points, is among the top-scoring rookies in the league.
The Bears have seen plenty of impact from the back-end of late, with defender Chase Priskie picking up three points (two goals, one assist) over his past two games, including a goal and an assist in Wednesday’s overtime loss at Laval. Meanwhile, Bears forward and AHL All-Star Classic representative Ethan Bear also had an assist in Hershey’s last game. He’s, in fact, had a helper in six of his last seven games played, with a total of eight assists over that span. Goaltender Hunter Shepard has won his last four consecutive starts and his 15 wins have him second in that category in the league.
