Pierre Dagenais

Pierre Dagenais (born March 4, 1978 in Blainville, Quebec) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in both the 1996 NHL Entry Draft (round 2, #47 overall) and the 1998 NHL Entry Draft (round 4, #105 overall).

Playing career

QMJHL

Pierre Dagenais started his junior career by being drafted by the Moncton Alpines in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) at the age of 17 years old. He quickly became a young star on his team, being the leader in points and goal in his first year with the Alpines in the 1995–96 season. He was drafted for the first time in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft by the New Jersey Devils.

The following year, Dagenais was traded to the Laval Titan after six games for Mathieu Letourneau. At mid-season he was traded to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies for Yannick Hubert and Jean-Philippe Soucy.

In the 1997–98 season, Dagenais led the QMJHL in goals and was second in points. That was also the year that Dagenais met his best friend to date, Mike Ribeiro, who finished second in points after Pierre. By playing on the same line all the season, Ribeiro and Dagenais developed a great friendship.

In the summer of 1998, Dagenais had not yet signed a contract with the New Jersey, so he was drafted again.

AHL & NHL

The 1998–99 season was Dagenais' professional hockey debut. He played with the New Jersey Devils' AHL affiliate, the Albany River Rats. The 1999–00 season was better than his first professional season. He finished among the top scorers in the league with 35 goals.

In 2000–01 season Dagenais made it to the NHL. In the 2001–02 season he played 16 games with the Devils, and in the minor leagues with the River Rats and the Utah Grizzlies . Eventually he was traded to the Florida Panthers. After next year's training camp, he was sent to the affiliate AHL team, the San Antonio Rampage.

During the summer 2003, the Montreal Canadiens' general manager Bob Gainey surprised some by signing Dagenais to a one year contract. Dagenais started the 2003–04 season with the Canadiens' AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. He played 50 games on the Habs' second line with Mike Ribeiro and Michael Ryder. The line was the most productive of the team and Dagenais scored 27 points.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, he played 7 games with HC Ajoie in Switzerland. After a disappointing start in the 2005–2006 season, he was sent back to the Hamilton Bulldogs on January 6th. He became a restricted free agent during the summer of 2006, and signed a tryout contract with Jokerit in the Finnish SM-liiga in October 2006. His tryout lasted until the SM-liiga Christmas break, and the contract was not renewed. He signed a new contract with HC Innsbruck of the Austrian Erste Bank Eishockey Liga and had an excellent season, scoring 37 goals in only 27 games. He almost led the league in goals, despite playing only half the year. He resigned with Innsbruck for 2007–08 season.In 2008, he signed with the Russian Superleague club Traktor Chelyabinsk.

Career statistics