May 15 Thinking Out Loud About Jaromir Jagr

Jaromir Jagr is interested in playing for our Montreal Canadiens. Yes, THAT Jaromir Jagr. He of 646 career goals and 1599 career points. He who is widely regarded as the greatest Czech-born, maybe even European, player of all-time. The reports first surfaced a couple of weeks ago from Tony Marinaro of The Team 990. Those reports were essentially confirmed today when Jagr made the following comments to theEdmonton Journal in the aftermath of his country's bronze medal win over Russia at the World Championships: 

"You never know. Maybe it will be still fun to go back to NHL. Maybe Pittsburgh. I don't know. Maybe Montreal. Maybe New York." Jagr added, "New York, I always had a great feeling about that city. They gave me a second chance. I never forget about that.And Montreal and Canada, it's totally different hockey. The fans are crazy about hockey and I've never played in Canada in my life. You never know."

It's a possibility intriguing enough to polarize Habs fans everywhere. In terms of contract, the number that has been floated around has been a relatively low-risk deal of one-year and $2 million. In Marinaro's original report, he stated that Pierre Gauthier immediately rejected Jagr's proposal. But surely, the debate must be raging on among Habs brass until Jagr officially signs his next deal. If it isn't, it sure as hell better be because players with six 40+ goal seasons on their resume don't knock on your door and ask to wear your jersey every day. Sure the 39-year-old Jagr's best days are clearly behind him but as long as 40-year-old Teemu Selanne continues to prove that age can be just a number, I think Jagr has some solid hockey left in him. 

Jagr's 66 goals in 155 KHL games over the last three years prove there's some gas in that old tank. That amounts to 35 goals in an 82-game NHL season. The KHL is by no means the NHL but considering Brian Gionta led the Habs with 29 goals this past season, there's enough weight behind Jagr's recent numbers to make the argument he could improve a team that finished fourth from the bottom in Eastern Conference scoring in 2010-2011.

There are valid reasons to believe this marriage wouldn't work. Never known his his exceptional two-way play, Jagr doesn't appear to be a player fit for Jacques Martin's system. There's also the issue of Jagr's locker room influence. By all accounts, the Habs are a pretty tight-knit group. Bringing in a name like Jaromir Jagr shakes that up a at least somewhat for better or worse. If it has a negative effect, it will perhaps be known too late to salvage the team's Cup hopes next year. How will Jagr react to not getting as much ice-time as he'd like? How will he react if Martin asks him to play with an unproven, relatively unknown David Desharnais? How will he react if the Habs get off to a 3-0 lead and are demanded to think "defense first" for the rest of the game? All that being said, I believe that with proper in-depth discussions with Jagr about his attitude, expectations and role with the team combined with the solid leadership group currently in place, the fit could work. After all, if Jagr wants to play here, he must know what he's getting into, right?

If the move works, it could pay huge dividends for the team. Jagr alongside Tomas Plekanec and Michael Cammalleri could be a dynamite line to pair with Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta and Max Pacioretty. It would also allow to Andrei Kostitsyn to move to a third line with David Desharnais and perhaps Mathieu Darche to form a pretty potent trio themselves. The thought that keeps coming back to my mind is that above all, Jagr would be an improvement over Benoit Pouliot. With only $650,000 separating what Pouliot "earned" in 2010-2011 and Jagr's reported asking price of $2 million, it's a fair roster substitution to assume. Even at 39 years old, and barring injury, Jagr would surely pot more than the 30 points Pouliot notched this past season. It's as much of a foregone conclusion as Yannick Weber giving up his #68 to Jagr.

Originally, I immediately said no to the thought of Jagr on the Canadiens. Over time, my stance has softened and I've done a complete 180 on the subject. With a solid off-season and some luck in the health department, I think the Habs are closer to being a Stanley Cup contender than a lot of other people might think. Jaromir Jagr could be that move that puts them over the top, a move that could be too good to pass up.

(Photo by Martin Rose/Bongarts/Getty Images)

About Will Martinez

Will Martinez runs the 'Hey, My Name is Will' blog and is a contributor for TheFranchise.ca. You can follow Will on Twitter @heymynameiswill

Tags: habs \ Jaromir Jagr \ Montreal Canadiens \ NHL

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