Recently a rumor started swirling like wildfire that the Oilers were interested in signing Jarome Iginla to an NHL deal – or at very least, a PTO.
Those rumours have been squashed by every connected person in Edmonton who has yet to comment on them and I’m sure it will continue. The connections to Edmonton are there because he’s a St Albert kid (that’s just outside of Edmonton if you aren’t aware). He has family connections here, etc. However, he’s lived away from the city since he was 15/16 years old at least and his Alberta home in hockey will always be Calgary.
That’s not to say he WOULDN’T sign in Edmonton. I’m sure if they offered him a contract he would take it. He’s 40 years old and the number of teams willing to make the commitment to him probably sits at 0 right now. So I’m sure he’d sign ANYWHERE if playing is what he wants. If he’s only after a contending team then he’s really limited himself and the odds of him finding a fit are much lower.
Jarome Iginla is a Hall of Fame player with 625-675-1300 in 1554 games. 600+ goals in a career that spanned an era where goals were hard to come by is very special. He is 34th all-time in points and 15th all-time in goals. That is an incredible legacy.
But he’s done. The legs aren’t there. The 27 points he had last year weren’t an aberration so much as they were the evidence of time taking its toll. It comes for everyone. The only one with mastery of the Deathly Hallows who can avoid this is apparently Jaromir Jagr. So if the Oilers were interested in signing a 40+ right winger to their team there’s only 1 I can fully endorse, and it isn’t Jarome Iginla.
It’s true that like all others who watched Iginla play for the Kings, it looked like he rose to the occasion and had more life. I chalked it up to there being something to actually play for in Los Angeles. On further looking into the metrics, he was putting up some individual points but getting destroyed in terms of the shot and goal metrics. To think that the success can be separated from the failures and sustained for a whole season now that he’s another year older is pure folly.
The Oilers aren’t a team without leadership anymore. They have a mega-star captain and a core group that is taking the next step. They have Lucic and Sekera and Jokinen and Russell. If this group still needs a glue guy to show leadership from the bench, they would have re-signed Matt Hendricks. They didn’t. They don’t.
Jagr or Bust.
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