Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Could Jagr return to Boston?

July 3, 2013, 4:02 PM ET [102 Comments]
Ty Anderson
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The 41-year-old Jaromir Jagr didn’t end his deadline tenure in Boston like everyone had hoped -- failing to raise Lord Stanley’s Cup above his head for the third time in his two-decade plus long career with the B’s bowing out to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games in the Stanley Cup Final -- but it’s hard to suggest that they didn’t get their money’s worth when it comes to what he brought to the table. Even if finding the back of the net became an ever so elusive task for No. 68.

Traded to Boston in exchange for Lane MacDermid, prospect Cody Payne, and a conditional first round pick (a condition that was met when the B’s ousted the New York Rangers in five games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals), what seemed to be forgotten by most when it came to Jagr’s addition to Boston was that the Black-and-Gold were not getting the Jagr of 1995.

They weren’t getting the Jagr of 2005, for that matter.

Jagr came to Boston a different player than most were used to seeing, and while his tenure with Claude Julien’s squad was littered with lineup shuffling and players needing to learn how to adapt to playing with him, the Czech hockey legend didn’t necessarily disappoint, recording two goals and 17 assists in 33 contests (11 regular season and 22 playoff). But it took all of two days for Chiarelli and the B’s to confirm that the 19-year NHLer would not be returning to the Hub for a second season.

Why? Simply put, with Horton expected to return with a bigger cap-hit, and with Seguin not expected to be a full-time third-liner (especially with his $5.75 million cap-hit that begins next season), there was no room for the 6-foot-3 Jagr to skate meaningful hockey for the B’s.

But with Horton out of town, and with a considerable lack of depth on the right side, could the Bruins be in a situation where they bring the grizzled veteran back to the Hub on a one-year deal?

“You know actually we have thought of circling back. We told him we were moving on so he may have moved on also. It’s something that we may revisit,” B’s general manager Peter Chiarelli said this morning during his annual pre-free agency meeting with the media. “He’s on a list of a bunch of guys. I’d like to go into this -- when I talk about reconstructing the right side, maybe we can get some youth in there too in addition to an older guy. When I say older it’s relatively speaking. It’s just older than a youthful player. It could be old now. 28 is the old 32. It’s all relative.”

Of course, bringing Jagr back does come with legitimate concerns, namely being his age and his ability to keep up with the B’s over the pace of an 82-game grind. Unfortunately for Jagr, a noted fitness freak simply obsessed with skating and keeping his body in shape, however, you did see the pounding of playoff hockey take a toll on his aging frame. By the end of the Bruins’ run, it seemed as if minor tweaks and injuries forced Julien to juggle his spot around on the second line with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, giving the B’s costly headaches in crunch-time situations. But even with these struggles, ‘the Jagr’ made solid contributions while in the Hub.

Particularly when it came to playing with B’s alternate captain, the 27-year-old Bergeron.

Take a look at the Bruins’ Game 4 showing against the Blackhawks, where Jagr dished it off to Bergeron for a one-timer that absolutely beat Corey Crawford clear as day. That’s essentially what you saw Jagr do with the Flyers’ Claude Giroux all throughout the 2011-12 season, where he helped Giroux grow into a superstar while playing in the same locker room undoubtedly helped motivate the Flyers’ younger core, especially Jakub Voracek.

As much as it'll pain B's fans to learn, it's worth noting that Jagr’s not Mark Recchi in terms of off-ice (and on-ice) leadership -- and he probably never will be -- but he’s a player that did show signs of gelling with Bergeron and company. With Jagr in town, the Bruins’ power-play went 14-for-82, a 17% success rate. Compare that to their 15-for-103 mark in 2013 in the 37 games played before he arrived, a 14% success rate. Jagr, for as slow as he may be as he approaches a 2013-14 season that’ll see him turn 42, can still provide a presence. Teams are aware of his (still) lethal shot -- which I think may have dented about a dozen posts throughout the 2013 playoffs -- and that he’s still a highly skilled player when it comes to protecting the puck, but that’s not where the ‘pros’ stop when it comes to a Jagr return in the Hub.

For the Black-and-Gold, though, Jagr makes sense for one reason beyond all other previously mentioned reasons, and that’s his expected price to play in the NHL in 2013-14.

With the B’s set to give goaltender Tuukka Rask his major payday (sources indicating that the 26-year-old’s new deal with come with a cap-hit around $7 million over the next six or so years), and with the Bruins operating with a shrinking cap and a bundle of questionable contracts, it’s undeniable that Boston’s not going to head into this weekend as major players for talents such as Horton, David Clarkson, or even Flame-turned-Penguin Jarome Iginla.

The Bruins will begin (and likely end) free-agency as bargain hunters, which of course, through a series of near-hits and countless misses on other options, may lead back to Jagr.

Noting today that the Bruins’ current right-wing core consists of Seguin, Rich Peverley, recently qualified restricted free-agent Jordan Caron, and former second round pick Jared Knight, who was limited to just a combined two goals and five points in 16 regular season and postseason contests for the Providence Bruins this year as he unfortunately battled countless injuries throughout the year, there’s simply no way for Chiarelli and company to downplay the Bruins’ skinniness on the right side of their forward core.

“If I get shut out – I hope not to get shut out over time whether it’s through trade. But we’ve got some kids who can play both sides. So, we’ve got some players that can play, it’s just that when you lose the players of the caliber of Horton and Jagr, you just have to look to try to maintain a standard that will help us to continue to contend,” said Chiarelli, who acknowledged that he’s begun to make some phone calls to pending free agents this morning. “I’m not saying that those players that I mentioned aren’t up to that standard, but I just have to look at all options.”

But with the club short on cash and limited in their prospect pool, could ‘all options’ include a return of Jaromir Jagr at an effective one to two million dollar price-tag?
Join the Discussion: » 102 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Ty Anderson
» Notable lineup change headlines loss in Tampa
» Bruins' leaders answer Montgomery's challenge
» B's issued reality check; Duran turns pro
» Bruins' mistakes doom them in loss to Rangers
» Bruins refuse to make it easy for themselves