Montreal Canadiens: Taking A Chance on Jaromir Jagr

NHL legend Jaromir Jagr still remains without a contract for next season, should the Montreal Canadiens take a chance and sign him?

The “Jaromir Jagr Watch”, has gone through different phases this offseason. At first it brought a chuckle. Not because it was funny, but because of how Jagr was poking fun at it on Twitter. Now, NHL fans are anxious to see where he goes and suggesting different options. The Montreal Canadiens have been one of those discussed options.

We’ve touched on this a little bit in a previous post. The Habs still have a decent amount of cap space going into training camp. What they’re doing with it, who knows? A reason why some believe Jagr becoming a Canadien may be a good idea, is because they have the room to sign him.

Jagr was making $4 million on a one-year contract with the Florida Panthers this past season. If Marc Bergevin decided to sign him to say a $3.5 million deal, then they’d still have an additional $5 million to work with.

In terms of his quality of play, Jagr has shown that he can still produce at 45-years-old. He finished the season with 16 goals and 30 assists. Jagr was mostly used on the team’s top-line alone with Vincent Trochek and Jonathan Huberdeau.

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Should the Canadiens Sign Him?

https://twitter.com/68Jagr/status/880561778068930560

Although he’s pretty aged (NHL-wise), Jagr still has the ability to be a difference-maker on a team. If he were to be brought to the Montreal Canadiens, there’s no way he would play as high in the line-up as he did in Florida. That would work in favour for both the team and Jagr himself.

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You’re usually playing the most minutes and have to go up against the other team’s top-pair on the first line. If Jagr were to play lower in the line-up, the quality of competition wouldn’t be nearly as difficult. Additionally, if he is brought on to the team and succeeds, he may be an attractive option at the deadline.

That being said, the Montreal Canadiens shouldn’t sign Jagr. There are a lot of young forwards who have the speed and skill to make the team next year. In particular, Charles Hudon. A player like him wont benefit at all from another season in the AHL. Also, there’s a very slim chance he even gets to the AHL as he needs to clear waivers.

If Bergevin does some kind of deal that includes Hudon or some of the other young talent ready to make the next step, then signing Jagr makes sense. He would probably be used on the fourth line along with Torrey Mitchell and Ales Hemsky. It would be a significant decrease in ice-time, but some opportunity on the power play may help with that.

Jagr would obviously be a good addition to the team. However, the Canadiens may want to give spots to what they have in-house, especially if there’s a chance in losing them.

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Do you think the Montreal Canadiens should sign Jagr?