Jagr had 16 goals and 19 assists last season, and
helps fill a scoring need due to departures the last two offseasons
of forwards Zach
Parise, Ilya
Kovalchuk and David
Clarkson. Even with Kovalchuk and Clarkson last season, the
Devils were 28th in goals scored and 21st in power-play percentage in
2012-13 on the way to finishing 11th in Eastern Conference. Even at
41, Jagr has an impeccable work ethic. He was a big influence on many
of the young players for the Philadelphia
Flyers during the 2011-12 season, his first back in the NHL after
three in Europe, when he had 19 goals and 54 points. He was equally
valuable to the Dallas
Stars in 34 games last season, striking for 14 goals and 26
points before his trade to the Boston
Bruins on April 2. The Bruins dealt Lane
MacDermid, their 2013 first-round pick, and prospect Cody
Payne to the Stars for Jagr. The future Hall of Famer played on a
line with Patrice
Bergeron and Brad
Marchand late in the season and during the Stanley Cup Playoffs
during his stay in Boston. He also played on the power-play with the
first unit. While Jagr did not score a goal in 22 postseason games
for the Bruins, but did have 10 assists and ranked fourth on the team
with 58 shots. He's currently goalless in 31 consecutive playoff
games dating back to the 2011-12 campaign, marking the longest
postseason drought of his career. Jagr has 681 goals and 1,688 points
in 1,391 regular-season games spanning 19 seasons with six different
clubs. Jagr certainly will be a welcome addition to New Jersey's
offensive mix. He'll join with other forwards acquired during free
agency, Michael
Ryder, Ryane
Clowe and Rostislav
Olesz, to attempt to fill the offensive hole left when Kovalchuk
retired from the NHL earlier this month.
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