The Flyers have made a bit of a shock today with the signing of free agent winger Jaromir Jagr. The 39 year old was expected to sign back with the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he started his career and played over 800 games. Obviously though, those negotiations broke down at some point and the Flyers pounced.
Jagr has been out of the NHL for three years playing Russia with Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League. He’s played very well over there scoring over 20 goals per year, Considering he was only playing around 50 games, that’s a good haul.
The reports on him are that he is in good shape and is working harder than he did in his younger days, however pundits feel that he’s really most effective in the first 20 seconds of a shift and can tend to wear down over the course of a :40-45 second shift. However, he still has fantastic hands, a great shot and should be an asset on the power play unit. He could very well end up on a line with Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk.
Darren Dreger reports that Jagr’s deal is for one year and $3.3 million.
Jagr has now basically completed the tour of the old Patrick division by signing with the Flyers after playing for most all of their biggest rivals. First the Penguins, then the Capitals and finally the Rangers. If he'd only been a Devil... Penguins fans are shocked and seemingly feel betrayed the Jagr would spurn Pittsburgh for Philadelphia.