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Unless you've been living under a rock the last few days, you know I've been pushing for the Calgary Flames to sign another top-9 winger in free agency.
The Flames have the money to do so, it'd better equip them to deal with inevitable injuries, and it would save them from dealing assets to add help down the road.
They are already very short on picks over the next two years so dipping into the prospect pool, and removing talent, isn't ideal considering they won't be adding to it.
Jussi Jokinen,
my ideal free agent target, was scooped up but some good players remain available. One of those players is Jaromir Jagr.
Jagr's speed, or lack thereof, is a concern but he's still managed to be very productive. Last season, Jagr produced 5v5 points at a higher clip than the likes of Tyler Johnson, Alex Galchenyuk, Rick Nash, David Krejci, Ryan Kesler, Derek Stepan and Alex Radulov, among many others.
His underlying numbers were fantastic, too, as the Panthers controlled 55.8% of the goals and 54.9% of the shot attempts with Jagr on the ice, as opposed to 44.4 of the goals and 47.6% of the shot attempts without him.
Sure, Jagr spent most of his time alongside a very good center in Aleksander Barkov but the latter posted much worse numbers without Jagr. In other words, the benefit was mutual.
If the Flames want to protect themselves a little from Jagr's speed, they can do so by giving him more offensive zone starts. That way, he wouldn't have to skate the length of the ice to get the puck down low, where he is at his best.
A lot of teams like to use their 3rd lines in defensive roles but the Flames have Mikael Backlund's unit to do that, thus freeing up Versteeg, Bennett and Player X.
Last year, Jagr garnered terrific results while starting 55% of non-neutral zone shifts in the offensive zone. He also did that while playing quality competition.
The two guys he'd likely play with, Versteeg and Bennett, started 58% of non-neutral zone shifts in the offensive zone and played softer competition.
In Calgary, Jagr could be less relied on, face softer competition, and be insulated a little more with offensive zone starts which, in theory, would help compensate for the skating issue.
I know teams are looking to get younger and faster -- not older and slower -- but, regardless of how it looks, Jagr continues to get very positive results.
That should be attractive to a team that plans on contending as early as next season.
Recent posts:
Why bringing back Chiasson could make
Ferland files for arbitration
There's incentive for the Flames to add now
Flames sign Stone to three-year extension
Flames sign Versteeg to one-year extension
On Chiasson and Brodie's 5v5 production
Breaking down the Travis Hamonic trade
Flames select Juuso Valimaki 16th overall
Flames acquire Mike Smith
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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