68'S PRIORITY ONE
JAGR LOOKING MORE LIKE CAPTAIN COMEBACK
May 18, 2008
JAROMIR Jagr wasn't joking when on breakup day he said his first choice was to play next season for the Rangers. And Glen Sather wasn't kidding, either, those times the last few months when he said he wanted No. 68 back on Broadway in 2008-09.
For Slap Shots has learned that Jagr's agent and Sather are expected to commence negotiations this week after preliminary discussions in which both sides exchanged words of love, if not vows of 'til death do they part, at least not yet.
"Jags would like to stay, he doesn't want to leave New York, and Slats has told me that he feels the same way," Pat Brisson, who with J.P. Barry represents Jagr, said by phone on Friday night. "We're going to begin to talk about a contract in the next week or so.
"Jags feels good about himself as a player and about what he and the Rangers can accomplish together."
If the Rangers and Jagr do in fact reach an agreement on what almost would certainly be a one-year, bonus-laden contract, management then will have committed to more than just Jagr the player. Management will have committed to Year Four of the post-lockout Jagr Era while postponing a new chapter headlined by Chris Drury and Scott Gomez.
For if Jagr continues to be the epicenter of the Rangers' universe, the centers that came last summer at a cost of more than $7M a year a man must be supporting actors.
If the commitment is made to Jagr, Drury then would either revert to his unfulfilling post as third-line center or shift to Gomez's left side. Neither is the role envisioned for the Big Moment Kid when he signed last July 1, and neither is the role likely to bring out his best.
At the same time, the money and cap space spent to retain Jagr would diminish the likelihood of the Blueshirts landing an accomplished sniper to complement Gomez. When the Rangers decided Gomez was worth $50M over seven years, no one envisioned him earning that money as a second-line center without a go-to partner.
Is Brandon Dubinsky ready to thrive in the demanding role of Jagr's first-line center from Day 1 of a sophomore year in which much will be expected of him? Or are he and the Rangers both better served with Dubinsky as a third-line pivot in the image of, say, Jordan Staal, whose shutdown ability in Game 5 played a major role in Pittsburgh's victory?
If a commitment is made to Jagr, then does that imply commitments to Martin Straka and Michal Rozsival, the latter of whom was the team's most disappointing player down the stretch and in the playoffs? Should the Rangers then acquire a center for the short-term who sees the game the way Michael Nylander does?
