Penguins are set to take on Jaromir Jagr and the Devils this evening after being humbled by the Washington Capitals by a score of 4-0 on Wednesday night.
While a divisional game certainly has importance it is the growing whispers of #JagrWatch2015 which make this an interesting game.
Rumor on the street is that the Penguins have not only contacted the Devils, but reached out to Evgeni Malkin to ask him if Jagr would be somebody who he’d like to play with.
All I know about the Penguins and Jaromir Jagr is that Evgeni Malkin was recently approached by management to see if he’d see No. 68 as a good fit on his line. Malkin affirmed. That’s it, at least for what’s made it to me. I’ve heard nothing else
Mark Madden of 105.9 the X has reported that the Penguins have contacted the Devils about Jagr and are interested in acquiring him. I neither comment nor rely on others’ reporting, but I’m sharing that with you here for the fullest context in case you didn’t hear that this week on his show.
You can place your own value on these rumors how you see fit but I have had other sources confirm they have heard the same things.
As far as Jagr the player? Well let’s just say he’s still pretty OK at the game of hockey. To demonstrate this I am going to use Domenic Galamini’s pretty sweet new tool that charts a player’s value. You can find that tool here
It ranks all players in the league and breaks down if they are producing at a 1st line level, 2nd line level, 3rd line level, 4th line level, or *gasp* below replacement level.
Double J:
He's a possession monster and still able to produce legitimate top six offense and that is with Travis Zajac, not Evgeni Malkin. Zajac is a good possession guy but as far as offense goes, it is safe to say he isn’t in Evgeni Malkin’s league.
And just because I enjoy tinkering around with this new tool here are the differences between Malkin and Zajac
Geno:
Zajac:
Just a little bit of difference in ability there.
Get used to these charts, they are great, and there will be more to come.
The Pensblog has had some pretty funny stuff the past few days on #JagrWatch2015.
For those weary of #JagrWatch2015 after the 2011 heartbreak ask yourself, why would a guy like Mike Colligan take the time to specifically breakdown Jaromir Jagr’s bonus structure in a Penguins related article if there wasn’t a chance at all of things potentially materializing on this front?
Lastly, what is the over/under on #JagrBombs tonight? If he plays well tonight in front of the Penguins brass that is only going to add more more gasoline to the fire.
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