Raise your hand if you hit refresh on the site this morning, saw the picture of Jaromir Jagr and for a moment thought the Ottawa Senators had signed him?
Crazy, right? Well, maybe not as crazy as you might think.
With the dust mostly settled on free agency, there are still a handful of veteran players still looking for an NHL home. It just so happens that Jaromir Jagr- the man who sits 4th all time in games played, 3rd in goals and 2nd in points- is one of those veterans looking for a contract heading into the 2017/2018 season.
Now beyond those wacky rumours that he was spotted at the airport in Ottawa a couple weeks ago, the word is the Senators do or at least at one point did have legitimate interest in the Czech forward.
Ottawa could use a little bit of help up front and even at 45 years of age, Jagr has proven he can still produce.
He had 46 points with the Panthers last season, which would have ranked him 5th in scoring in Ottawa. He also added 13 points on the power play where the Sens struggled badly last season. His production may have dropped 20 points from the year before but a significant (18% to 8%) decrease in his shooting percentage may partly explain that.
While his legs faded long ago, his offensive awareness and ability to protect that puck in traffic are as good as ever. There’s no doubt that he can still play.
And he’s made it clear, he wants to play in the NHL.
At this point, it’s not clear how interested the Senators are or maybe more importantly, how interested Jagr is in Ottawa. We know that the Senators have at least kicked tires though. It also sounds like Jagr may have interest from other teams and is also at least considering the possibility of returning home to the Czech Republic to finish his career.
Jágr do Ottawy? Prý tam byl viděný na letišti…To může být jen výmysl, ale nemusí. Podle mých info opravdu Senators o něj projevili zájem..
— Zdenek Janda (@zdenek_janda) July 18, 2017
If the Senators did add Jagr, they would likely have to move someone else up front. Things are pretty crowded as it is and the team is already closing in on the $75 million salary cap. There are also legitimate questions about how well Jagr would fit into Boucher’s system. Also, there’s the issue of what number Mike Hoffman would switch to.
While there’s no doubt that Jagr could still help the Senators up front, the novelty of having one of the greatest players of all time in a Sens jersey is legitimately exciting. Heck, they might even sell a few of those god awful jerseys they just released.
Pierre Dorion has made it clear he’d like to do a couple more things before the season starts. A trade for a high-end forward and a contract for Jaromir Jagr would be fine by me.
68 days until the new season starts, by the way.
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