The Los Angeles Kings are in need of offense, and Jaromir Jagr, the No. 2 scorer in NHL history, is still in need of a new team for the 2017-18 season. Despite that potential match the Kings have no interest in adding the 45-year-old future Hall of Famer to their roster for this upcoming season.
General manager Rob Blake said as much during a question and answer session with Kings fans this past week, via Lisa Dillman of NHL.com.
Here is Blake talking about the possibility of adding Jagr...“Obviously [Jagr] is a tremendous player, been a tremendous player for a number of years, a [future] Hall of Famer,” Kings general manager Rob Blake said during a Q&A session with season ticket holders on Thursday. “When you get to a certain age, you have to be a certain fit on a team.
“We’ve looked at lot of different free agents in the summer and where it fits in in our projections. … There was also the equation of the salary cap and how things fit in. We didn’t go in the direction of Jagr this year. But again, he’s a tremendous player and I’m sure he’ll surface somewhere.”
Goal scoring was a major issue for the Kings in 2016-17 (they were 25th in the NHL) and in recent years they have not been afraid to add older, veteran players to their roster. They still have 35-year-old Marian Gaborik, they added 35-year-old Mike Cammalleri this summer on a one-year deal and even traded for Jarome Iginla late last season. Still, Jagr doesn’t seem to be the “certain fit” the Kings are looking given his age.
Jagr didn’t look quite as good as he had in recent year this past season but he was still able to finish with 46 points (16 goals, 30 assists) while playing in all 82 games.
Even though Jagr has remained in peak physical shape and has maintained a high level of production, he is still going to turn 46 this season, and while he has remained durable enough to play in at least 77 games in every season after turning 40 he has shown signs of really starting to slow down as each season has progressed. He can still be a useful asset on the power play and he still has the hands to make plays and contribute offensively. The best scenario for him might be on a team that paces out his workload over the course of the season with occasional nights off (like in back-to-back situations) and limits his minutes to where he can really excel offensively. But that doesn’t seem to be the sort of thing Jagr would be interested in. So it might take him a little longer to find a team that is willing to give him the salary, and playing time, that he desires.