Jaromir Jagr back in New Jersey
The New Jersey Devils have re-signed future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr on a one-year deal, team announced on Thursday. Jagr who led the Devils in 2013-2014 in scoring by tallying 24 goals and 43 assists for 67 points. After the signing Jagr declared via a conference call from Belarus, where he is playing for the Czech Republic in the world championships: “I was happy being here. There was no reason to change. There was no reason to test free agency. What would happen? Someone might give me more money, but nobody can guarantee me that I’d be happy someplace else. If I’m happy, then there’s no reason to go anywhere else. I play my best hockey when I’m happy.”
Although the terms were not released by the Devils, it is believed that Jagr will earn 6 million dollar next season with incentives based on personal stats and games played. Jagr, who’s 42 years old will start a 21st season in the NHL. His career statistics are 705 goals with 1,050 assists for 1,755 points. Jagr also spent three years in the Kontinental Hockey League playing for Omsk.
Jagr further declared enjoying one year deal and going year by year in this stage of his career. “I like having one-year deals,” Jagr said. “If something goes wrong, you never know if you have a long contract and say have three years left. One year is good for everybody. I think both sides wanted to get this done quickly. Lou (Lamoriello, the team’s president and general manager) wanted to do it, because he wanted to see the direction where he’s going with the team.”
Jagr was also named on Thursday as one of the three finalists for the Bill Masterton Award, given to the player “who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey,” along with Manny Malholtra of the Carolina Hurricanes and Dominic Moore of the New York Rangers.
Editor’s Note: A wise move by Lou Lamoriello despite the age of Jaromir Jagr. He would have been a hot commodity on the free agent market this summer.
Jaroslav Halak’s traded to the Islanders
It appears that Jaroslav Halak is on the move once again. After years of stability in Montreal and then on to St-Louis, Halak will now be pursuing his career in New York with the Islanders, if he is signed by them. On Thursday, the New York Islanders announced they had acquired goaltender Halak from the Washington Capitals in exchange for the Chicago Blackhawks’ fourth-round pick in the 2014 NHL Draft. Halak is slated to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. The Islanders now have a two-month window in which to negotiate a new contract with the keeper before he is free to negotiate with the other 29 NHL clubs.
Halak who was traded by St-Louis with Chris Stewart, and William Carrier to the Buffalo Sabres for Ryan Miller and Steve Ott was later traded to the Washington Capitals with a 3rd round selection in 2015 to the Washington Capitals goalie Michal Neuvirth and Rostislav Klesla. For Halak, this is his fourth team in two months with the possibility of a fifth in 5 months if he signs in July with another team.
Halak this year played in 52 games with St-Louis and Washington compiling 29 wins and 13 losses with a goal against average of 2,25 and a save percentage of .921. He had also five shutouts.
