Silver-American Dino?

That fun little graphic to the left says a lot about Ryan Gagnon, the former Calgary Dinos defender, who is on the move in his professional career! As you can see, Ryan was named as a Canada West first-team all-star in his final season wearing Calgary red while captaining the Dinos men's hockey team. It would be the second time that Gagnon has been named as a Canada West all-star selection in his university career to go along with the all-rookie honours he earned when he landed in the Alberta city in 2017-18 following a successful five-year run in the WHL with the Victoria Royals. Where is he headed next? Let's find out!

It happened a week ago, but Ryan Gagnon is headed to Allen, Texas where the Quesnel, BC native will join the ECHL's Allen Americans after signing a deal to join them! No details were released by the Americans regarding length of the deal or financials, but Gagnon will suit for the two-time Kelly Cup champions this year and try to bring home a third championship following their wins in 2015 and 2016.

The 26 year-old quietly might be one of the best signings coming out of Canadian university hockey for an ECHL team this season as he was effective at both ends of the ice for the Dinos. He recorded two goals and a team-high 13 assists in just 18 games in his final season with the Dinos, upping his best university point total of 14 in 2019-20 when he played in ten more games. In 99 Canada West games, the mobile rearguard scored eight goals and 32 assists while being a reliable defender for the Dinos program.

Those abilities were honed in the five years he played with Victoria in the WHL. He wore both the assistant captain and captains marks in his final two years playing in Victoria, and his 2015-16 season total of five goals and 20 assists was his best in the Western League. In total, Gagnon played in 320 WHL games where he recorded nine goals and 57 assists while his leadership and defensive abilities earned him an invite to the Arizona Coyotes Prospect Camp in 2017. Clearly, Gagnon can play if an NHL team wanted a look.

Perhaps one of the biggest honours that a player can receive while playing U SPORTS hockey is an invite to the U SPORTS team that plays against the Canadian World Junior players every year. Gagnon was part of the 2021 squad that skated against Canada's best junior players, but registered no points in the two-game series against Canada's top U20 players. Nevertheless, the Dinos' blueliner showed that he belongs among the best at the university level, and capped off a successful season with the all-star nod from the conference.

While Allen will be a new opportunity for Gagnon, he may have a chance to skip the Americans altogether as Gagnon was named to the 2022-23 training camp roster for the AHL's Henderson Silver Knights a couple of days ago! There's no guarantee that Gagnon will make the jump from Calgary to Henderson, but an invitation means someone wants to have a look at Gagnon and that's a good sign! Gagnon will still need to work as hard as he ever has if he has a hope of being on the Silver Knights' radar, but, if the worst case scenario is heading back to north Dallas following an AHL camp, Gagnon should arrive in Allen ready to go for a long ECHL season!

When people say that Canadian university hockey is often forgotten about, there's some truth to that. Seeing guys like Ryan Gagnon, Rylan Toth, Keaton Jameson, Zach Sawchenko, Derek Ryan, and others find their way into the system and then move up the ladder should be enough proof that one can play Canadian university hockey and still have a fairly decent career in the professional hockey ranks. There may not be multi-million dollar contracts handed out, but these are men who have their educations and know how to work hard. Both of those things should be attractive to any potential employer including professional hockey teams.

As it stands, Allen is showing a total of five defenders on their team roster for 2022-23, so Ryan Gagnon should get an opportunity to skate in a number of games assuming he doesn't land on the Henderson roster. Both he and Lord-Anthony Grissom are the new kids on the Allen roster, so it would seem that Gagnon may have a shot at being in the top-four if he can outperform one or two of the other defencemen that Allen has signed. Without saying it out loud, it looks like Ryan Gagnon might be an ECHL regular this season if he can continue to play at the high level he showed back in Calgary.

From here, the opportunities are endless as a good showing in Henderson may make Gagnon a wanted man by that organization. That could mean a signing in Henderson or potentially a move to Savannah at some point, but a good season with the Americans will have minor-professional general managers seeking Gagnon for their teams next season and beyond. I expect Gagnon to play as awell as he did in Calgary while adjusting to the speed and game in the ECHL, but, knowing what I know and saw from him last season, I don't think he's going to have much trouble.

Congratulations to Ryan Gagnon for his first professional deal in signing with Allen, and here's hoping he blows everyone away at Silver Knights camp and jumps into the AHL right out of Calgary!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!