In effort to add more scoring, and solidify their depth on the wing, the Calgary Flames signed Jaromir Jagr to a one-year contract.
Here are the details.
Jagr is done to CAL. $1M+$1M in bonuses. I think it might not be announced until he gets to the city, but there is a commitment.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) October 2, 2017
I know some are concerned about Jagr's age (45) and a lack of footspeed, but it's not like he was fleet of foot a season ago and he was still a very productive and useful player.
He tallied 16 goals, 46 points, and was a more efficient scorer at 5v5 than the likes of Tyler Johnson, Alex Galchenyuk, Rick Nash, Ryan Kesler, David Krejci, Alex Radulov and Derek Stepan, among others. That's good company to be keeping for any player, let alone one 20 years past his prime.
Jagr's underlying numbers were excellent as well. The Panthers controlled ~56% of the goals and ~55% of the shot attempts with Jagr on the ice at 5v5, as opposed to 44.4% of the goals and 47.6% of the attempts without him. Basically, the Panthers were a high-end team with Jagr on the ice and bottom-feeder caliber without him.
Jagr is so much better than Calgary's top-9 alternatives (Troy Brouwer, Curtis Lazar, etc.) that his game could fall off a cliff and he'd still be the best of the bunch.
Not only does this signing make the Flames a better team now, but it also saves them from trading futures at the deadline to plug the same top-9 hole.
On a one-year deal with a cheap base salary there is little risk involved, and potential for a big reward. I love this signing.
Recent posts: Five takeaways from yet another preseason loss