Babcock and Holland have both spoken with Jagr

On Wednesday we reported that Jaromir Jagr was interested in returning to the NHL after spending three seasons playing in the KHL. We also cited a website in the Czech Republic saying that the Detroit Red Wings were on Jagr’s short list in terms of teams he would be willing to play for upon his return.

Thursday morning Ansar Khan of Mlive.com further reported that he Wings are indeed exploring the possibility of acquiring the veteran superstar who just turned 39 this past February. In fact according to Khan Jagr’s agent Petr Svoboda has discussed Jagr to the Wings with Ken Holland and head coach Mike Babcock.

The Red Wings didn’t call Jagr. His agent, Petr Svoboda, called them. But Red Wings general manager Ken Holland has had several conversations with Svoboda, and coach Mike Babcock has spoken to Jagr.

Svoboda reportedly contacted Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers, two of Jagr’s former teams, as well as Montreal.

But Jagr would prefer to play in Detroit for the chance to play with highly skilled players Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and, if he returns, Nicklas Lidstrom.

Now Khan believes that at almost 40 years of age Jagr would be a risk and he is absolutely right. Jagr is definitely at the end of his career and has been out of the NHL for a few years now. However the Wings are a team that will take a chance on an aging veteran if the price is right. If they can go and get Jagr for $1 million to $1.5 million for one year then the risk is very minimal.

Source: Mlive.com