Penguins/NHL
Offer on the Table to Jagr
It is decision day for Jaromir Jagr. The Penguins, as expected, made an official offer to Jagr on Tuesday evening. The team now expects an answer by Wednesday night.
Here are the latest developments:
For all of the talk of GM Ray Shero not showing interest in offering much more than $1 million per season, sources indicate the Penguins proposed what they believe is a
fair and competitive offer. Word coming out of the organization is that the Penguins are said to have offered a deal in the $2.25 range.
fair and competitive offer. Word coming out of the organization is that the Penguins are said to have offered a deal in the $2.25 range.
Jagr’s agent Petr Svoboda told Inside Pittsburgh Sports on Tuesday afternoon that he expected to receive offers from all interested teams by Tuesday evening.
Other teams believed to be in the mix include the Detroit Red Wings and the Montreal Canadiens who have been making a late charge. The Canadiens have long been a team of interest to Jagr due to his close relationship with center Tomas Plekanec.
Things have been heating up in the last 48 hours.
Svoboda held deep discussions with Detroit on Monday and met with Montreal in person. His focus Tuesday though was on the Penguins but Svoboda is expected to hold further discussions with the Red Wings Wednesday morning before he gets back to Pittsburgh, a source involved in the process who did not want to be named told Inside Pittsburgh Sports late Tuesday night.
The Penguins feel that Jagr wants to be a Penguin and sources say the team felt it was important to make an offer that they at least feel was not a low ball offer.
Jagr has not played in the NHL since the 2007-2008 season. He last NHL game was against the Penguins in the 2008 playoffs.
Jagr had 50 points in 49 games with Avangard Omsk of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League last season.
The Penguins spent over a week deciding whether they intended to fully pursue Jagr. They held multiple discussions with Jagr and came to the conclusion that he can help them over the course of an 82 game schedule.
For Jagr who will turn 40 during the season, the 82 game schedule was among the hot discussion points inside the organization. The Penguins feel he can hold up.
“He really feels like he is in great shape, and I’m sure that he is. He always has been. He saw what (Teemu) Selanne and (Mark) Recchi did this year, ” GM Ray Shero told the Tribune-Review.
