The Jaromir Jagr trade signals the Florida Panthers making a run at this years playoffs. And lays a foundation for future success.
When the Jaromir Jagr trade was announced earlier today it shouldn’t have shocked many people. Jagr has made several statements recently about his concerns staying with the New Jersey Devils beyond the trade deadline. GM Lou Lamariello was never going to let Jagr walk for nothing and found a willing partner in the Florida Panthers. The trade makes a ton of sense for both teams.
First the Devils get back a pair of picks that you can see here which help to build the future of the franchise. Lamariello may not believe the Devils are out of the playoff race after the Jaromir Jagr trade but they were barely in it with him, currently sitting eight points out of a wild card spot. The Devils are going to build again from the ground up and these two picks, particularly the second round choice in the upcoming deep draft, will help restock the team with talent. Lamariello did well to get what he got back in the Jaromir Jagr trade.
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But this isn’t about the Devils. It’s about what the Florida Panthers did to their franchise that is impressive. Bringing in Jagr added offensive punch to the Panthers immediately (11 goals and 29 points in 57 games). It’s not top six forward production but that’s not the point. The Jaromir Jagr trade is not only about his on-ice contributions.
The brilliance in the Jaromir Jagr trade lies in his influence on a young roster. The Panthers have young budding stars in Jonathan Huberdeau, Nick Bjugstad, and Aleksander Barkov among other young forwards, as well as top overall pick Aaron Ekblad and Erik Gudbranson. The Stanley Cup success Jagr has had can be passed down but more importantly the work ethic to get there. Remember Jagr is 43 years old and still producing. He isn’t doing it by eating Doritos and watching sitcoms. The off-ice effort and work put into being an NHL star for as long as Jagr has been around will translate to any player willing to learn from the 5th most prolific scorer in NHL history.
Panthers GM Dale Tallon made the Jaromir Jagr trade to help his team make up those last two points on a battered Boston Bruins team. And Jagr can certainly help with that. But Jagr has forgotten more about hockey than much of the young, developing future core of the Panthers has experienced. And that’s the brilliance of bringing in Jagr no matter if he stays in Florida after the season or not. The experience of playing with Jagr and learning from one of the all-time greats in the game will stay with these players. And those are dividends that will pay off in playoff runs to come.
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