Penguins/NHL
Morning Jagr Update
9:59 a.m. – *No real news yet on the Jagr front expect the process is expected to drag on into Thursday and likely into draft weekend.
Late Monday night and early Tuesday, indications were that a decision could be coming on Wednesday but with the Penguins late to the party and entering the mix just since the weekend, a decision at the earliest will come on Thursday.
*Keep in mind, Penguins GM Ray Shero and Jagr’s agent Peter Svoboda are 9 hours apart with Shero in Las Vegas and Svoboda in the Czech Republic.
*The Penguins are still in the process of courting Jagr and indications are that the team has yet to make an official offer.
The team has no intentions to get into a bidding war and all signs continue to point to any deal being under $3 million per season.
*A somewhat promising development for the Penguins.
Jagr’s agent tells Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.com that Jagr is expected to speak with Mario and Shero today.
I have a call into Svoboda and he told me he will get back to me in the next hour.
Updated 10:45 a.m.: *Svoboda told me there will be no new developments today on the contract front, other than Jagr is expected to speak with Shero and Mario today, he confirmed.
*Svoboda said that no discussions between him and Ray Shero took place today and none are planned.
*When asked if he expects to connect with Shero at the draft, Svoboda said “likely”.
*At the end of our phone call, Svoboda told me to check back in on Friday. Read what you want into that.
*What caught my attention is that Svoboda tried to make a point that more NHL teams are interested, telling me at least 3 to 4 teams have called since GM’s around the league believe Jagr’s interest in the NHL is serious.
Svoboda has been a really hard read as he’s been extremely media friendly and is willing to have just about everything on the record.
*My feeling on the situation as this is now dragging on: 1. Jagr is waiting for Pittsburgh to make an offer, most importantly. 2. Jagr is waiting for an offer that he’s comfortable with from his two top choices, Pittsburgh or Detroit. 3. The KHL remains a serious option. 4. Jagr will not sign for anything under $2 million and I get the sense they are shooting for at least $3 million per season from NHL clubs.
