The New Jersey Devils have officially announced the signing of veteran forward Jaromir Jagr -- a one-year deal with a $2 million base salary.
According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, the remainder of the deal is more complex. Jagr gets a $250,000 bonus for every five games played from 10 to 45, meaning there’s potential for an additional $2 million in bonus money.
So all told, the contract could be worth around $4 million for 2013-14.
Rumors of a deal with the Devils have persisted for days. On Monday, ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun reported Jagr had agreed to join the club.
New Jersey is the seventh NHL team that Jagr, 41, has played for during his 23-year career after being drafted by Pittsburgh fifth overall at the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. He’s also spent time in Washington, New York (Rangers), Philadelphia, Dallas and Boston.
As mentioned, no financial details have been reported on the new deal with the Devils, though Jagr made $4.5 million (prorated) in 2013 and $3.3 million in 2011-12 with Philadelphia.
The move to New Jersey makes sense on a number of fronts.
One, the club needed a skill winger with some star power after Ilya Kovalchuk’s shock retirement.
Two, New Jersey has nearly $10 million in available cap space, more than enough to make Jagr a healthy offer.
Three, there’s a certain comfort level for Jagr in Jersey.
The Devils have fellow Czechs Patrik Elias and Marek Zidlicky on the active roster and recently signed another Czech, Rostislav Olesz, to a one-year deal.
New Jersey also signed Jagr’s former Stars teammate, Michael Ryder, earlier this summer.