Jaromir Jagr was the subject of a recent article on NHL.com. The player with the second-most points in NHL history has had a tough go when it comes to finding work this offseason. Certainly a part of that is that his numbers dipped in 2016/17, a season where he had just 46 points in 82 games.
But a bigger reason why Jagr might be having trouble getting a contract is that, when you are 45 years old, General Managers in the NHL are not going to view you as a candidate for a bounce-back season. Jagr recently stated that he saw some advantages with playing for Kladno, a team based in the Czech Republic.
Playing and home with flexibility
Those benefits are that he "would be at home and...(he) would have a chance to leave for the NHL anytime there is an opportunity," the Czech veteran said (qtd. at NHL.com August 10/Michael Langr). "Let's say some team deals with injuries and needs help, then I could pack my stuff in the next day and go." Kladno is a team in a second-tier league in the Czech Republic. Apparently, playing for them would afford Jagr some flexibility to leave the team if a situation calls for it, flexibility that is not afforded to players that play in the Czech Republic's top-tier league.
When it comes to Jagr and an NHL contract, the hang up could be his salary demands. At the age of 45, he isn't exactly an up-and-comer anymore, but there should be plenty of teams interested in him at the right price, meaning a budget price.
Last year Jagr, according to Spotrac, was a cap hit of $4,000,000 for the Florida Panthers plus he had bonus incentives. In today's market, 46 points doesn't earn $4,000,00 and Jagr was an underachiever in terms of salary-versus-production relationships.
Is it all in the name?
But production isn't the only factor when it comes to sports contracts.
When it comes to players that have major career credentials they can often command a big contract because of their names. Famous players are still well known to fans and so, even when they aren't producing anymore, they can still help fill a stadium. In this way, they can be commodities on the free-agent market. So if Jagr doesn't take a cheap contract as a fourth liner then he could find himself on a team that just needs to add him to look more credible to its fan base.
That doesn't mean that he'll be on a contending team for sure.
"The most serious negotiations I have are with Kladno," Jagr stated. The Kladno situation looks like a ploy to eventually find an NHL team that is desperate, one that might need cough up some money for a band aid. It could be that Jagr ends up starting overseas and then joins an NHL team later that faces injury problems. If that ends up being the case then the veteran could really end up anywhere still.
