Jagr Watch Upadate

It is now the third day of free agency and Jaromir Jagr still has not made his decision. According to Glenn Sather there has been very little discussion with Jagr and the two sides aren’t close to a deal. In addition to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Edmonton Oilers have entered the Jagr sweepstakes.

The Oilers are only in the hunt for Jagr because Marian Hossa took possible glory over a bloated contract with a team that has very little promise. Oiler’s GM Kevin Lowe is desperate to bring a star onto his club, even if it means grossly overpaying an aged Jagr. In my opinion the Oilers have no shot at signing him, the only advantage they have over the Rangers and Penguins is they have extra money to throw around and can offer him a larger contract. But even if Jagr doesn’t wish to sign with the Penguins and cannot reach a deal with the Rangers, he has a $35M offer from Omsk-Avangard. An offer that is surely more attractive then spending a season in the basement with the Oilers.

I always envisioned the Rangers handing over the reigns to Gomez and Drury at some point, with Jagr heading off into the sunset. But times have changed, situations have been altered and the Rangers need a scoring winger desperately. Jagr is perfect to fill that void. This summer I figured that the Rangers would let Jagr walk if they signed Marian Hossa because he would have given the Rangers enough offense and would compliment Scott Gomez nicely. Now though, with Hossa signed the Rangers have a large group of young somewhat unproven wingers who are going to be relied on more than should be at their age. It’s a recipe for disaster, Sather needs to sign Jagr to add some stability.