Calgary Flames rumors: Jaromir Jagr close to deal
Jaromir Jagr is reportedly very close to signing a deal with the Calgary Flames.
The Calgary Flames are coming off a very productive offseason. Not only did they upgrade their already impressive blue line by acquiring Travis Hamonic from the New York Islanders, they also temporarily solved their goaltending issues by trading for Mike Smith from the Arizona Coyotes. But the Flames might not be done adding players.
Calgary is reportedly close to working out a one-year deal with Jaromir Jagr. This interest is one that has been going on for a while. Jagr has been weighing his options, including considering a few KHL offers.
The Flames are a great fit for him. Yes, Jagr is old and he’s not that fast, nor is he quick. But he’s still extremely good at what he does. Perhaps no player in the NHL has a higher hockey IQ than Jagr. He can win one-on-one battles and his positioning is nearly flawless. Jagr uses his backside better than most players, almost using it like an NBA player boxing out for a rebound.
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Jagr should be a nice fit on the Flames third forward line. One can assume he wouldn’t be a very good fit with the first line, featuring Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau. Both are lightning fast, so Jagr would probably slow them down.
With Calgary’s lack of right-wing depth, this makes a ton of sense. He’d upgrade an already extremely potent forward group. The addition of Jagr gives the Flames the potential to have three forward lines capable of scoring. More importantly, his signing would force Troy Brouwer down into a more optimal fourth line role.
Something worth noting from all of this is Jagr has gotten interest from other teams. And one of them is the St. Louis Blues. The Blues expressed interest in him after the loss of Robby Fabbri. However, they were reportedly told Jagr is going another direction. One can assume it’s because he’s working something out with the Flames.
Calgary enters the 2017-18 NHL season as one of the favorites to win the Pacific Division. With the Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers both not at full-strength to start, the Flames might have an upper hand on both of them if they can get Jagr to sign.