Todd Cordell officially kicked it off last week and Josh Yohe confirmed it with the quote he got from the man himself.
Jagr said he would be happy to stay in NJ but wouldn't have a problem being traded. "It's up to Lou, whatever he wants."
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_Trib) December 29, 2014
That is the "I'm not going to make this public, but you can move me at anytime".
So we've been down these #JagrWatch paths before. Why does it make sense now?
The Penguins have a lack of top six forwards even when they are healthy. One of those top six forwards is Beau Bennett, who never seems to be healthy. The Penguins probably need to make one bigger move and one smaller move, Jagr would be the smaller move.
Jagr is the Devils leading scorer and top possession player. He is driving the bus in New Jersey.
Here is the beautiful thing about Jagr in Pittsburgh, he doesn't have to drive the bus! The Penguins have these two elite centers to do that for him. He just needs to find soft spots and do something like this:
You can even let him run the half wall on the power play. Why? Because it would be an excellent setup. Jagr on half wall, Sid down low where he belongs, Geno at the right point ripping bombs, with Letang and Hornqvist as your right handed players on the other side.
I'm not an age guy so I don't care how old a player is. The only question that matters is can this guy play? The answer was yes with Simon Despres when veterans were stealing his playing time, and the answer is yes for Jagr despite the number on his birth certificate.
But Jagr burned the Penguins back in 2011 and hurt Mario's feelings...
No he didn't. He took market value. Both Mario and Jaromir are businessmen, they understand that side of things. The Penguins didn't have any cap room and Jagr proved that he was worth what the Flyers gave him. The only important variable should be, "Can this guy help our hockey team?" That answer is yes.
The cost to acquire? I would offer a conditional second round pick. The condition would be if the Penguins reach the Stanley Cup Final it becomes a first round pick. That's the offer. If it isn't enough, you can say you tried. The Penguins should try.
Plus you get stuff like this
Jagr to Mike Lange this morning: "Mikey, you're more handsome than Steigy. But they put him on TV? I don't get it."
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_Trib) December 30, 2014
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