Jagr back to Devils

[ThomasTomasz]

Jaromir Jagr's career will go on in New Jersey.

On Tuesday Jagr said he had a deal in place with the Devils and on Wednesday that deal was made official. Jagr is coming back for another season with the Devils.

As has become customary, the 42-year-old Jagr signed a one-year contract with the Devils last offseason and things really worked out well. He was far and away the Devils' top player this past season, being named the team MVP after leading them 67 points in 82 games, 16 points more than the nearest Devil. He's way up there in age but still has the game of a player in his 30s.

The Devils don't release details of contracts, not even the term, but it's a safe assumption it's another one-year deal. As to the value, Renaud Lavoie reports it's going up from the $4.55 million he made last season to something between $5 million and $6 million. Hard to argue he didn't earn a raise.

Jagr continually said how much he enjoyed playing in New Jersey this season and that he was interested in staying. Not even the lack of a playoff berth was able to dissuade him of that. Knowing the Devils were so close to making the postseason might have only increased his desire to return and get the Devils over the hump next season.

Last season he flew up the NHL leaderboards and now with one more season has the chance to pass Steve Yzerman (with whom he is tied), Marcel Dionne and Ron Francis to move into fourth all time on the points list. He is likely to pass Mike Gartner and Phil Esposito on the all-time goals list with a chance to surpass Marcel Dionne for fourth all time. He'll need 27 goals to move by Dionne.

We would say it's rather remarkable that Jagr is still playing this well and having the success that he is but this is Jagr we're talking about here. He is a Masterton Trophy finalist because nobody works harder than him to stay in shape.

http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/eye-on...-jagr-re-signs-with-devils-for-another-season

Jagr is performing well, so why not?

 

[Tailback U]

He was my favorite player in the league for a while. Unstoppable in like Nhl 94 I feel like.

What's amazing is that he was always great because of his strength and even though he has gotten slower as hockey has gotten faster, he is still playing well. Probably the strongest player I've ever seen on the puck when he was in his prime. Glad he is coming back.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

He was my favorite player in the league for a while. Unstoppable in like Nhl 94 I feel like.

What's amazing is that he was always great because of his strength and even though he has gotten slower as hockey has gotten faster, he is still playing well. Probably the strongest player I've ever seen on the puck when he was in his prime. Glad he is coming back.

He had some prolific offensive seasons with the Pens, and he's certainly going into the HOF. I don't have that view of Jagr, because his time with the Capitals was awful. It was one of the worst times in the NHL as far as the trap goes, and the Capitals did not have the kind of talents playing around Jagr, so they took him out of the game. Unlike some Caps fans, I don't blame it all on Jagr, and even then, some of the core was getting older and they paid the price for trying to buy a team.

To the credit of Jagr, I wasn't watching hockey, but I did start playing the NHL series the winter before Jagr was traded to the Capitals, so those two things contributed to me starting to watch and follow the sport.