Calgary Flames rumors: Jaromir Jagr coming in?

Jaromir Jagr is still available, but the Calgary Flames may have interest in signing him for the coming season.

NHL training camps are only weeks away from starting now, and Jaromir Jagr is surely the biggest name still available on the free agent market. But that may be changing soon, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet told NHL Network the Calgary Flames have interest in one of the league’s all-time great scorers.

Friedan also said he heard from teams that the Anaheim Ducks might have interest Jagr, but based on his own digging he dismissed that. The Los Angeles Kings recently took themselves out of the running for the 45-year-old, but the Carolina Hurricanes have been mentioned as a good potential fit.

Flames’ head coach Glen Gulutzan set expectations for 2017-18 at a 100-point season recently. He also coached the Dallas Stars during the 2012-13 season, when Jagr had 26 points (14 goals 12 assists) in 34 games before being traded to the Boston Bruins.

Jagr played all 82 games for the Florida Panthers last season, totaling 46 points (16 goals and 30 assists) with eight power play goals and +2 plus/minus. In 2015-16, over 79 regular season games for Florida, Jagr had 66 points (27 goals, 39 assists) with a +23 plus/minus. A team-wide decline can explain at least some of Jagr’s decline last season, and he remains a useful player in  his mid-40s.

Friedman suggest Jagr would start the season in the Czech Republic, in order to keep the option of playing in the Olympics open. He could still sign with an NHL team later in the season in that scenario, perhaps just in time for a playoff push.

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Jagr played in the KHL from 2008-2011, in his late 30s as it were, so a return overseas shouldn’t be ruled out. Even with that break from the NHL, he is second all-time in points (1,914) and third in goals (765) over his 23 seasons in the league.