Jagr's agent having talks with Penguins

[Jigawatts]

[url="http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11172/1155218-100.stm"]http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11172/1155218-100.stm[/url]

Jaromir Jagr's agent spoke with Penguins general manager Ray Shero yesterday about Jagr returning to the Penguins and plans to do so again soon.

"We talked yesterday and we will talk again today," said Petr Svoboda, the former NHL defenseman who represents Jagr.

Asked if he believes the Penguins are serious about trying to work out a deal with Jagr, Svoboda said. "I really believed it was serious when I made the phone call. We will know a lot more today."

He suggested that Jagr, 39, will decide where he wants to play within the next few days.

The Penguins, Detroit and an unidentified club are reportedly the ones he is considering, although Detroit is the only one to publicly acknowledge that it would like to sign him.

Asked if Jagr has a front-runner, Svoboda said, "I don't want to say he has one team in particular" that he would like to sign with.

Shero has declined to discuss recent developments in the Jagr situation.

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[hawaiiansteel]

Updated: June 21, 2011

Three teams in mix for Jaromir Jagr

By Pierre LeBrun
ESPN.com



Jaromir Jagr could not put a time frame on his NHL negotiations but had nothing but great things to say Tuesday about the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings, the two front-runners to land the 39-year-old winger.

"I don't know," Jagr told ESPN.com when asked how much longer his decision would take.

"Sometimes it takes a few hours, sometimes it takes a week. I'm not sure how long it's going to take," added the five-time NHL scoring champion.

Jagr's agent Petr Svoboda told ESPN.com earlier Tuesday that the Penguins and Red Wings were front-runners for Jagr's services as well as a third, unidentified team.

The Penguins would represent a return to his original NHL roots.

"In Pittsburgh, I played there 10 years. I still have a house there. I was too lazy to sell it," Jagr said with his trademark laugh.

"Obviously Mario (Lemieux) is the owner. The team they got, (Sidney) Crosby and (Evgeni) Malkin, plus other great players, if I went there it would be a lot easier," added Jagr, speaking to ESPN.com via cell phone from his native Czech Republic. "But on the other side, Detroit has great players and play closer to my style, a Euro style. That's a plus. And (Nicklas) Lidstrom is there, plus (Pavel) Datsyuk and (Henrik) Zetterberg -- great, great players."

Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock spoke to Jagr over the phone last weekend, a source told ESPN.com.

"Both teams are contenders to win the Cup every year and that's the most exciting thing as a hockey player," said Jagr, not tipping his hand.

While Svoboda said earlier Tuesday that the NHL was a stronger probability than Russia's KHL, where Jagr has played the past three years, one cannot discount that possibility either.

The Red Wings have publicly confirmed their interest in Jagr while the Penguins have not. Pittsburgh GM Ray Shero did not return a message seeking comment from ESPN.com, but coach Dan Bylsma talked about the prospect of signing Jagr at the media session for NHL awards nominees Tuesday.

"Hypothetically, you're talking about a guy who in his last year in the National Hockey League had 75 points," Bylsma said. "That's leading our team last year. That's an intriguing thing to think about -- a power-play guy, what you saw him do in the world championship against NHL-caliber players was nothing short of outstanding.

"Those are intriguing things to think about hypothetically and it's tough not to think about adding 75 points to your roster if that's something you're capable of doing," he said.

Montreal Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier declined comment via email to ESPN.com on Tuesday when asked about his team's rumored interest in Jagr.

Pierre LeBrun covers the NHL for ESPN.com.

[url="http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=6686396"]http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=6686396[/url]

[Jigawatts]

I'm not sure what to think of this. I'm all for nostalgia, but can Jagr help this team?

For a reasonable price (not that I know what reasonable is) I'd like to see this happen.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Although we haven't seen Jagr for a while, it's not like he was rotting in a prison cell somewhere like Plaxico. He has been playing in the KHL in Russia, which although it is not the NHL, it is still a pretty strong, talented league. And when he did play against NHL talent in the World Championships, he did play awfully well. This year, his Czech team took the bronze while he scored 5 goals (including a hat trick against the ol' U. S. of A.) and 9 points in 9 games. Last year, the Czechs took gold at the World Championships, and he contributed 7 points in 9 games.

Being able to throw out top two lines featuring Crosby with Jagr and Kunitz and Malkin with Staal and Neal would be pretty darn strong.

We've brought in some aging vets before to play out their final NHL contracts (Guerin, Roberts, LeClair), and have also brought back some former Pens for another go-round (Kovalev, Recchi, Stevens), so the precedent for a signing like this is there.

[Jigawatts]

"Pittsburgh makes me feel like I am dying alive" - Jaromir Jagr

Ten years later, I hope he can find new life in Pittsburgh and feel like he's living alive again.

[RuthlessBurgher]

If we do sign him, I pray for the team to eschew the traditional playoff beards, opting instead for playoff Jagr mullets.

[Jigawatts]

[hawaiiansteel]

Penguins, Jagr talk, but no deadline yet

Bylsma sounds receptive to adding big-time scorer

Wednesday, June 22, 2011
By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Former Penguins captain Jaromir Jagr has spent the past three seasons playing in the KHL.

Petr Svoboda, the former NHL defenseman who represents Jaromir Jagr, has not announced a deadline for getting his client a contract.

Good thing, too, because there seems to be a certain urgency missing from the discussions designed to get Jagr back in the NHL after spending three winters in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League.

Tuesday, some of the discussions themselves were AWOL.

Svoboda had been scheduled to hold a phone conversation with Penguins general manager Ray Shero to talk about whatever interest Shero has in adding Jagr to his depth chart, but, as of late evening in Prague, where Svoboda is based, the two still had not gotten together.

Svoboda, though, said he had talked to Shero Monday and that someone from the Penguins had "communicated with [Jagr]" Tuesday.

Shero, through the team's media-relations department, declined interview requests for the second consecutive day.

Coach Dan Bylsma, speaking at a media-availability session Tuesday evening in Las Vegas, where the NHL awards ceremony will be held tonight, said that neither he nor anyone else from the team has spoken with Jagr, although that likely could have been done without his knowledge.

Regardless, Bylsma seems receptive to having Jagr on his roster.

"Hypothetically, you're talking about a guy who, in his last year in the National Hockey League, had 75 points," he said. "That's leading our team last year. That's an intriguing thing to think about -- a power-play guy.

"What you saw him do in the world championships against NHL-caliber players was nothing short of outstanding, on a bigger ice surface. So those are intriguing things to think about hypothetically, and it's tough not to think about adding 75 points to your roster if that's something you're capable of doing."

The only team to acknowledge interest in Jagr publicly is Detroit, although Svoboda said "there are a few more than three" that have inquired about him.

The Penguins, who were approached by Svoboda a few days ago, appear to be one of them. The fact that team officials apparently have had multiple conversations with Svoboda and/or Jagr suggested they have at least a mild interest in trying to add him to their roster.

How much they would be willing to spend to do so remains to be seen. Most indications are that, if Jagr is to return to the franchise with which he entered the NHL in 1990, he will do it for less money than elsewhere.

Jagr, 39, also has the option of returning to the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia, where he spent the past three seasons.

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[hawaiiansteel]

Jagr speaks with Penguins

By Josh Yohe
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, June 23, 2011


Jaromir Jagr spoke with Penguins owner Mario Lemieux today.

Lemieux came away encouraged by the conversation, according to sources.

However, the Penguins have not made an offer and are not convinced that Jagr would be willing to play for less money in Pittsburgh. Detroit is also interested in Jagr and likely will offer the NHL's 9th all-time leading scorer more money.

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma wants Jagr to play for the Penguins next season. There is, however, a debate within the organization regarding if Jagr, 39, call still be a top-six forward.

Sources say general manager Ray Shero is not interested in paying much more than $1 million for Jagr's services. The Penguins are committed to roughly $55 million of salary next season, leaving them close to $9 million under the salary cap.

The unknown factor in this situation is Lemieux, Jagr's former teammate and hockey idol. Jagr has been quite complimentary of Lemieux and the Penguins organization in recent years, and in 2009 said he "owes my hockey life" to Lemieux.

[url="http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_743561.html#ixzz1Q7NAOYUU"]http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbu ... z1Q7NAOYUU[/url]

[RuthlessBurgher]

$9 million worth of cap room, eh?

Well here are our UFA's (note: we already re-signed potential UFA's Craig Adams and Nick Johnson):

Alex Kovalev: made $5,000,000 last season
Pascal Dupuis: made $1,400,000 last season
Max Talbot: made $1,050,000 last season
Mike Rupp: made $833,000 last season
Eric Godard: made $750,000 last season
Arron Asham: made $700,000 last season
Chris Conner: made $550,000 last season
Mike Comrie: made $500,000 last season
Brett Sterling: made $500,000 last season

The team will not attempt to re-sign Kovalev or Comrie, so scratch both of those names from the start.

I'm sure the team would love to have both Duper and Superstar back, but they may only be able to afford one of the two. I'll go ahead and predict Talbot over Dupuis because Max is 5 years younger than Pascal, even though Dupuis has the element of speed that Talbot does not possess. Dupuis puts up better numbers overall, but Talbot has a knack for stepping up in big games (2 goals in game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals, back-to-back QMJHL championoships and two Guy LaFleur Trophies as playoff MVP in junior hockey).

Is there a need for Godard anymore? Deryk Engelland can fill the enforcer role, and has the flexibility to play defenseman or even 4th line winger in a pinch. Scratch Godard.

Rupp vs. Asham. Like the grit from both of those guys. I was surprised to see that Rupp is actually 2 years younger than Asham (I thought it would be the opposite of that). Asham has more of a knack for playoff dramatics. It will likely come down to which guy is willing to accept a hometown discount. I just get the sense that Rupp identifies with Pittsburgh more...when I look at him, I only see Penguin now, not former Devil...I still see former Flyer when I look at Asham.

Conner vs. Sterling. Conner surprisingly stepped up an filled a major role on the big club this season (skating in 60 NHL games last season to Sterling's 7). I think Conner earned another contract here.

Here are our RFA's:

Tyler Kennedy: made $725,000 last season
Dustin Jeffrey: made $509,000 last season
Tim Wallace: made $525,000 last season
Brad Theissen: made $875,000 last season
Joey Haddad: made $513,000 last season

I'd imagine that they'd all be brought back with a qualifying offer (the biggest names are obviously Kennedy and Jeffrey, who should play a major role with the big club this season, and Brad Theissen also had a dominant year in goal for the W-B/S Pens as well).