Move Over Mats....JJ Coming Back?

1) The never ending story of where will Mats Sundin play is ongoing with various reports on where he may end up. This post will not address that issue as we have already discussed it ad-nauseoum. However, Mats might have to scoot over to make room for another possible returnee. None other than Jaromir Jagr.

2) Rumours have been circulating that JJ is none too happy with his KHL arrangement with Omsk Avangard. There are varying reports of the league being in trouble. We have a post on that subject forth coming. However, the 'bloom is off the rose' sort of speak. Not only are conditions far inferior to what Jagr is accustomed to in the NHL, but he is also not happy with the competition. Jagr is a nightly target for players taking cheap shots at the super star.

3) We have read reports but also heard from various sources that Jagr would possibly accept/listen to offers from Eastern Conference only NHL teams to return. With a lack of a transfer agreement in place, nothing would prevent Jaromir from returning, assuming he's not locked into his contract. We're surprised that Eklund hasn't been all over this one already. Certainly Jagr could impact a team as much as Mats? The problem is the potential asking price and lack of cap space for a majority of contending teams that JJ would consider returning to.

4) The obvious destination, Jagr's last NHL stop the NY Rangers, have been rumoured to be in the Sundin sweepstakes, but the problem is they have virtually no cap space and either can't afford to trade away another asset, or those players they want to move are salary cap anchors; not attractive to other teams. Another possible interested team is JJ's original team, the Penguins. They too have cap issues, but the addition of Jagr to their forward lines would make them The Eastern Conference team to beat. A dark horse team that is quietly staying in the race, and could easily arrange to have the available cap space to add Jagr are the NJ Devils. Despite the loss of Brodeur for the past month they have been staying in the top 8 in the East. The addition of Jagr to make their offense more potent could tip the Devils from a marginal playoff bubble team to an instant Eastern contender.

5) Who ever Jagr chooses, or IF he leaves Russia at all at this juncture is anyone's guess. We are NOT saying we have any significant inside information on this issue at this time, but we wanted to alert our readers to its possibility. No doubt other rumor blogs will start to pick up on this as the days go by. Certainly nothing will transpire on this before the New Year. An unrelated note, look for an interesting post FR2 is writing with respect to the Sean Avery situation Its probably going to be out this Friday. As always, keep it here for the latest!