Monday, December 21, 2009

Jagr May Be Back in NHL Next Season

Jim Matheson at the Edmonton Journal reports that Jaromir Jagr still has many connections in the NHL, especially with the Edmonton Oilers...

"Former New York Rangers' captain Jaromir Jagr may be toiling away with Avangard Omsk with the Kontinental Hockey League but he's still good enough to play in the NHL, even after turning 38 in February. He has many connections left with the NHL. He has good relationships with the Edmonton Oilers assistant coach Wayne Fleming, who coached in Omsk last season, and Oilers assistant Tom Renney, his head coach in New York. He also has a close friendship with Ales Hemsky from the Czech national team. So don't bet against him being back in North America next year when his contract runs out."

Jagr has 13 goals and 12 assists in 29 games this season for Avangard Omsk.

...Edmonton seems like the obvious destination for Jagr, but I'm sure he still has some good contacts in New York as well. So you never know.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Jagr is one of my top five favorite Rangers. Could he finish his year here with Kovalchuck and Gaborik?

Dave Weir said...

I find it hard to believe that Jagr would go back to New York after the way Glen Sather handled his contract situation in the summer of 2008. Sather gave Wade Redden the contract that would have kept Jagr a Ranger until he retired (3 years at $6.5M per). Hard to imagine how Jagr felt about having to get in line behind players of such a lesser calibre - Drury, Gomez, then Redden. Sure he's a defenseman, but still.