Aaron Gagnon

Aaron Gagnon (born April 24, 1986) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Jets.

Early life Gagnon was born on April 24, 1986, in Quesnel, British Columbia, to parents Kelly and Barry Gagnon. He was raised in Armstrong, British Columbia.

Playing career

Junior Gagnon was drafted in the 5th round, 83rd overall by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the 2001 WHL Bantam Draft. In the season immediately following the draft, Gagnon played in 2 games with the Thunderbirds, while spending most of the season with his North Okanagan Midget AA team of the BCAHA where he scored 59 goals and 118 points in only 41 games to lead the team in scoring. One year later, Gagnon began his rookie season with Seattle. In 60 games, Gagnon scored 18 points while adding another 5 points in 15 playoff games. Gagnon's sophomore season was a large improvement over his rookie campaign. With 36 points in 63 games, Gagnon doubled his previous seasons' point total. Gagnon's defensive game also improved, as he led the Thunderbirds in plus/minus with a plus-18. an award he ultimately lost to Kris Russell of the Medicine Hat Tigers.

On September 22, 2005, just prior to the start of his fourth full WHL season, Gagnon was named captain of the Thunderbirds.

Gagnon's final season with the Thunderbirds was arguably the best of his WHL career. Serving once again as the Thunderbirds' captain, Gagnon finished the season with career highs in goals (42), assists (38), and points (80) in only 59 games. During the season, Gagnon was twice named the Boston Pizza WHL Player of the Week and was also named the Husky WHL Player of the Month for December. At the completion of the regular season, Gagnon was named to the WHL West First All-Star Team and was the Western Conference nomination for both the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL's MVP, and the Brad Hornung Trophy as the WHL's most sportsmanlike player of the year. For the second time in his WHL career, Gagnon lost out on an award to Kris Russell of the Medicine Hat Tigers, losing the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy; however, Gagnon did manage to win his first Brad Hornung Trophy.

Professional Gagnon was drafted in the eighth round, 240th overall by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2004 NHL entry draft. On February 2, 2007, Gagnon signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Dallas Stars.

On July 1, 2011, Gagnon signed a one-year contract as a free agent with the Winnipeg Jets.

In early August 2013, after spending his first five professional seasons in North America, Gagnon signed for two years with the Swedish Hockey League team HV71, joining Riley Holzapfel whom he played with in St. John's IceCaps. In the 2013–14 season, Gagnon appeared in only 9 games with HV71 before opting to transfer to the Finnish Liiga with Lukko Rauma. He stayed at Lukko until January 25, 2017, and then moved to SC Bern of the National League (NL), where he inked a deal for the remainder of the 2016-17 season.

After three seasons with the SCL Tigers, he played his last professional season in 2020-21 with Swedish Allsvenskan club, Modo Hockey.

International play On April 1, 2004, Gagnon was named to the Canadian roster for the 2004 IIHF World U18 Championships in Minsk, Belarus.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2001–02 Enderby Ice Kings KIJHL 6 1 0 1 0 — — — — — 2001–02 Seattle Thunderbirds WHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2002–03 Seattle Thunderbirds WHL 60 5 13 18 14 15 3 2 5 4 2003–04 Seattle Thunderbirds WHL 63 21 15 36 29 — — — — — 2004–05 Seattle Thunderbirds WHL 72 31 34 65 29 12 4 5 9 16 2005–06 Seattle Thunderbirds WHL 62 24 21 45 40 7 5 3 8 6 2006–07 Seattle Thunderbirds WHL 59 42 38 80 58 11 6 2 8 10 2007–08 Idaho Steelheads ECHL 22 7 14 21 4 4 1 1 2 2 2007–08 Iowa Stars AHL 25 0 1 1 8 — — — — — 2008–09 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 61 8 11 19 28 10 1 2 3 2 2009–10 Texas Stars AHL 78 27 31 58 42 24 8 4 12 18 2009–10 Dallas Stars NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2010–11 Texas Stars AHL 58 14 23 37 24 6 2 2 4 4 2010–11 Dallas Stars NHL 19 0 2 2 0 — — — — — 2011–12 St. John's IceCaps AHL 63 14 20 34 14 15 5 4 9 6 2011–12 Winnipeg Jets NHL 7 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2012–13 St. John's IceCaps AHL 43 11 13 24 18 — — — — — 2012–13 Winnipeg Jets NHL 10 3 0 3 2 — — — — — 2013–14 HV71 SHL 9 2 1 3 4 — — — — — 2013–14 Lukko Liiga 48 17 19 36 20 15 5 6 14 14 2014–15 Lukko Liiga 47 14 16 30 28 14 3 7 10 6 2015–16 Lukko Liiga 60 25 23 48 36 5 0 0 0 2 2016–17 Lukko Liiga 43 11 15 26 24 — — — — — 2016–17 SC Bern NLA 7 3 2 5 2 12 0 3 3 0 2017–18 SCL Tigers NL 46 16 11 27 20 — — — — — 2018–19 SCL Tigers NL 39 14 14 28 22 7 1 1 2 0 2019–20 SCL Tigers NL 14 1 4 5 4 — — — — — 2020–21 Modo Hockey Allsv 9 2 1 3 6 — — — — — AHL totals 328 74 98 172 134 55 16 12 28 30 NHL totals 38 3 2 5 2 — — — — — Liiga totals 198 67 73 140 108 34 8 16 24 22

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2004 Canada WJC18 4th 7 0 3 3 10 Junior totals 7 0 3 3 10

Awards and honours Award Year WHL West First All-Star Team 2005 West First All-Star Team 2007 Brad Hornung Trophy 2007