Penguins/NHL
Latest on Jagr
The Jaromir Jagr saga has taken it’s twists and turns in the past four days. A lot of those twists and turns have been orchestrated by his agent Petr Svoboda.
Svoboda who on Wednesday said a decision from Jagr could be made in a couple days, now says a decision will not be made until July 1, according to the Detroit News.
The NHL informed Svoboda today that Jagr can’t sign with an NHL team until July 1. That was news to Svoboda as he was not aware of that prior to being informed from the league and it’s up for debate whether the GM’s Jagr was talking with were also aware of that.
Sources in Jagr’s camp say that no GM informed them a deal couldn’t be signed before July 1. Svoboda by the way, mainly reps players in the European leagues.
Where this situation is getting dicey, is that Jagr won’t be making a decision until July 1. Although he can’t sign a contract until then, that doesn’t mean he can’t make a decision or reach an agreement beforehand, as Jagr can still negotiate with interested teams.
That could decrease the chances Jagr signs with Pittsburgh, considerably, if that’s actually going to be the case.
Word coming out of the Penguins organization is that if they decided to push forward in talks, they wanted some clairity on the situation by the end of the weekend, with free agency set to begin on Friday, July 1.
Sources indicate for now the Penguins maintain interest but are not going to let the Jagr situation holdup any possible moves or resigning their group of free agents to be….. Of course, if the opportunity opens up with their top targets.
The team to this point is involved in talks with Max Talbot, Tyler Kennedy, Pascal Dupuis and Mike Rupp.
If the Penguins stay in the mix, Pittsburgh is said to be Jagr’s preferred choice but the money factor remains at play.
Sources say Jagr will not settle for a deal under $2 million per season and is believed to be seeking a deal in excess of $3 million per season.
Penguins GM Ray Shero is intrigued about bringing Jagr on-board but my information remains consistent in that Shero is showing no interest in tying up his cap into the 39 year old winger, at the expense of others.
The Penguins have been considered unlikely to offer Jagr more than $2 million.
The Tribune-Review reported earlier today that Shero is showing little interest in offering more than $1 million per season. My sources put the number at or closer to $2 million.
The Penguins as of tonight have not made an offer.
Jagr spoke with owner and former teammate Mario Lemieux yesterday. The two are expected to speak again, a source in Jagr’s camp said today.
Svoboda and Shero expect to meet on Saturday at the draft. Svoboda was not confident that the two would meet on Friday.
The Detroit Red Wings remain very much in the mix and the mystery team isn’t a mystery team afterall.
The Montreal Canadiens who had previously been at the top of Jagr’s wishlist, are now said to be kicking the tires again.
However, Montreal is considered unlikely to make an offer to Jagr as there’s concerns from Habs management about Jagr being a fit in their system.
Notes: GM Ray Shero and Steven Bartlett, the agent for Tyler Kennedy are scheduled to meet tomorrow in person. The Penguins are of late Thursday evening were not said to be actively trying to move Kennedy, despite minimal progress in talks.
