The Boston Bruins have acquired one of the best hockey players to ever lace a pair of skates from the Dallas Stars.
Going to Boston is Jaromir Jagr who, as of today, is eighth all-time in NHL scoring with 1,679 points, trailing former teammate Mario Lemieux by 44 points. Had he not gone to Russia to play hockey from 2008-2011, he would likely be the only player not named Wayne Gretzky to crack the 2,000 point mark in NHL history. Going the other way to Dallas are prospects Lane MacDermaid and Cody Payne, along with a conditional second round pick. If Boston were to reach the Eastern Conference Finals, that would turn into a first round pick.
Background Information
The return of Jaromir Jagr to the NHL brought a lot of different reactions from fans. For me, all I really cared about was watching one of the most dominant players to ever step foot on an NHL ice surface.
He was stellar in the first half of the 2011-2012 campaign, putting up 31 points in his first 32 games. Playing with Claude Giroux will do that to a player, regardless of his age.
A groin injury mid-way through the season seemed to slow him down a bit, as he missed some time and never really returned to earlier form. In his final 41 games of the season, Jagr managed just 23 points. He still put up a respectable 54 points overall but it wasn’t quite the season that he seemed to be poised for after his start.
This year, Jagr has had a pretty good season considering he’s in his forties now. He has 26 points so far, putting him on the cusp of the top-50 in scoring in the NHL. He has chipped in nine power-play points, is shooting about 2.5 shots a game and even has 20 PIMs to boot. By all accounts, he’s been a solid fantasy performer.
But I think just how good Jagr has been goes unnoticed by a lot of people (playing in Dallas will do that to you). Jaromir Jagr has a 9.94 On-Ice Corsi, second-highest on Dallas to Reilly Smith Dallas Stars right wing Jaromir Jagr (what?). The next-highest forward after Jagr is Loui Eriksson at 2.39. I can’t overstate how ridiculous that is. Despite playing for a team whose puck possession stats are eerily similar to Calgary, Jagr was excelling.
Fantasy Impact
So what can he bring to Boston? Well, aside from the fact that Jagr was excelling on what could only be called a subpar team, he knows how to score (duh). With his aforementioned nine power-play points, Jagr could give a boost to a team that is seventh-worst in the NHL in PP efficiency at 15.2%. He is a smart offensive player who can play down-low on the power-play and create chances for those around him. This is something the Bruins were sorely lacking. If you’ve watched him play, he’s nearly impossible to bump off the puck in the corners, a skill (yes, it is a skill) that is crucial to the success of any power-play.
That he will be on the power-play, there is no doubt. Which unit he will be on is another matter. It will also be interesting to see which line he lands on when they are at even strength. This will probably determine which power-play unit he lands on. No coach in his right mind would break up the Bergeron/Seguin/Marchand line as they are one of (if not the) best lines in hockey. This leaves the Krejci/Horton/Lucic line. Because of his lack of scoring so far this season, it would seem logical that Lucic gets demoted to the third line with Jagr taking his spot.
Until we see which line he lands on, we won’t know his true fantasy impact. What I can tell you for certain is this: I doubt that Boston traded two prospects and a potential first round pick for a third line player. This means that the addition of Jagr to the Bruins will mean a loss of meaningful ice-time for either Lucic or Horton. My money is on Lucic, so I would be concerned if I owned him in my fantasy leagues.
