What was the draw of the KHL for Jagr?

[ManofSteel55]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[benfranklin]

I believe Ovechkin would've played in 04-05, as well.

Shit youre right. Re-calculating

 

[Leafshater67]

He was making 10 million USD tax free. Back then the KHL salaries were big.

 

[The Nuge]

Money for sure as people have said, but he’s also talked about the less demanding schedule. That’s got to be appealing at 36

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Pretty sad overall for NHL fans. Dude put up 123, 96, then 71 in healthy seasons before leaving.

Assuming he stayed for those three seasons and averaged 25 goals (which is a very safe bet. 30+ was more likely) and assuming no lockouts, here are my pace/guesses for him in goals:

94-95 - 22 goals (pace)
04-05 - 30 goals(guessing)
08-09 - 25 goals (guessing)
09-10 - 25 goals (guessing)
10-11 - 25 goals (guessing)
12-13 - 14 goals (pace)

Jagr would have finished with 907 goals

Wayne would have had +9 based on 94-95 pace.
Ovy would have +22 from 12-13 lockout and assuming he played in 04-05 as his rookie year, ill toss out 30 goals which we all will likely agree is low.

So today, we would be sitting at

Ovy 935
Jagr 907
Wayne 903

That’s a great fantasy!

Dude chased the money…..clearly he valued that more than his legacy in the NHL.

 

[CokenoPepsi]

Pretty sad overall for NHL fans. Dude put up 123, 96, then 71 in healthy seasons before leaving.

Assuming he stayed for those three seasons and averaged 25 goals (which is a very safe bet. 30+ was more likely) and assuming no lockouts, here are my pace/guesses for him in goals:

94-95 - 22 goals (pace)
04-05 - 30 goals(guessing)
08-09 - 25 goals (guessing)
09-10 - 25 goals (guessing)
10-11 - 25 goals (guessing)
12-13 - 14 goals (pace)

Jagr would have finished with 907 goals

Wayne would have had +9 based on 94-95 pace.
Ovy would have +22 from 12-13 lockout and assuming he played in 04-05 as his rookie year, ill toss out 30 goals which we all will likely agree is low.

So today, we would be sitting at

Ovy 935
Jagr 907
Wayne 903

Jagr was not beating the goal record, he was a bit broken by his last season in New York and he even said himself had he stayed he'd retire long before he actually did.

 

[benfranklin]

Jagr was not beating the goal record, he was a bit broken by his last season in New York and he even said himself had he stayed he'd retire long before he actually did.

And then went to the KHL for 3 seasons only to come back and put up another 120 goals before he finally couldnt do it in the NHL anymore.

Obviously it was likely not going to happen, but injuries were never a problem for him so take away the lockouts and KHL seasons and he would have been very close, if not beating it.

 

[CokenoPepsi]

And then went to the KHL for 3 seasons only to come back and put up another 120 goals before he finally couldnt do it in the NHL anymore.

Obviously it was likely not going to happen, but injuries were never a problem for him so take away the lockouts and KHL seasons and he would have been very close, if not beating it.

He said it was more mental than physical

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Jagr is still playing pro hockey, but at limited effectiveness in a league that’s below the AHL, maybe is at ECHL, level. I don’t watch any of the games, but part of me suspects (without justification) that his opponents take it somewhat easy on him

It’s possible, kind of how I couldn’t imagine seizing an opportunity to catch bucketless 52 year old Gordie Howe off guard with a fully charged open ice hit… but based on his Czech league stats, Jagr hasn’t exactly looked like a world beater you need to game plan around. I’ve just seen a few highlights and there’s no reason to think he’s allowed to just come on and “do his thing” for a bit and opponents will indulge him, if that was the point. I’d say he’s a super slow, big guy with some hockey sense. You don’t want your team caught on a counterattack with him on the ice, but he can protect the puck for a second, set up teammates and get close to the net. A 13th fwd set piece specialist perhaps?

@Czechboy, am I close?

 

[Zine]

IIRC correctly, he was mentally worn down, wasn't getting the NHL offers he wanted, and didn't particularly care for living in North America.

Playing in Omsk allowed him to make a boatload of money, play a lighter schedule and be closer to home.

It gave him time to re-charge his batteries as they say.

 

[Czechboy]

It’s possible, kind of how I couldn’t imagine seizing an opportunity to catch bucketless 52 year old Gordie Howe off guard with a fully charged open ice hit… but based on his Czech league stats, Jagr hasn’t exactly looked like a world beater you need to game plan around. I’ve just seen a few highlights and there’s no reason to think he’s allowed to just come on and “do his thing” for a bit and opponents will indulge him, if that was the point. I’d say he’s a super slow, big guy with some hockey sense. You don’t want your team caught on a counterattack with him on the ice, but he can protect the puck for a second, set up teammates and get close to the net. A 13th fwd set piece specialist perhaps?

@Czechboy, am I close?

Pretty much. It's not a glowing review of the Extraliga (which has gotten much stronger at the top for Extraliga standards) but he's still effective on a weaker Extraliga team. He is the Tyson Barrie of the Extraliga.lol Still effective in a specific role. FTR... if he sold the team and became a free agent, he'd still be in the Extraliga if he wanted to.

 

[Greatzsky 99]

$7m per season, tax free. The highest paid player in the NHL was making $10m pre-tax, so Jagr took home more in the KHL than any NHL player did. The stuff I was talking about with where his mental state was I think was a big factor, but money was a huge part of it too. He made $8.36m pre-tax in his last season in NY. $3.3m in his first season back in the NHL.

and 55 games a season, he played 55, 51 and 49, so pay was higher and much less work.

 

[BraveCanadian]

It was easier and he likely got paid pretty well at the same time.

 

[Reindl87]

Less games, more money, less physicality.

 

[sr edler]

Playing a lighter schedule and less physical game for a couple of seasons helped him longevity wise, when he came back to NA. All these "what if he stayed in the NHL he would have scored X amount of more goals" takes doesn't take the human aspect into account. Both Lidström and Selänne said a year off with the lockout helped prolong their careers.

It can also go the other way where an older player who isn't a fitness freak (Brett Hull) takes a year off and toasts himself.

 

[JianYang]

At the time, the general thought was that he left for a payday that the nhl could not match.

I believe that when jagr came back to the nhl, he provided some sort of comment of how the Russian game gave him his body back as he was no longer feeling those aches and pains that came with the nhl game.

 

[frisco]

Really, NHL GM's missed the boat. Somebody should have stepped up with an offer and just signed him. Who couldn't have used a guy that averaged over 95+ points over his past three seasons and had just come off leading the NHL in points/game in the playoffs (15 points in 10 games). Last time the Rangers had someone that good at forward was never.

My Best-Carey

 

[WarriorofTime]

Does anyone have a copy of the interview where Jagr claimed the KHL extended his career? I've seen it repeated so much that I'm curious for the actual original of that claim to understand the origin, context, language where this claim came about.

 

[MadLuke]

NHL GM's missed the boat. Somebody should have stepped up with an offer and just signed him.

That assuming they did not (apparently he had a lot of offers hard to imagine he did not), I am not sure the motivation would have been money, maybe for some tax and cost of living if that was the case.

5 millions a year for just 2 year in 2008 free agent summer was good money at the time, but a player like Perry signed 5 years for 26.6, the Bruins signed Ryder for 4 millions a year (3 seasons), Jagr on a short contract was still worth more than Ryder.

Would not surprise me if he had a similar or better money wise offer in the nhl if he was ready to sign for just 1 or 2 season like that, one of the biggest star in the sport, 71 pts, great playoff, great possession-Corsi (60% team best type) metric that were popular at the time

Rangers did not made him an offer we can imagine because he was quite serious about leaving even before seeing them july 1, they were the team that knew.

 

[Troubadour]

His tenure with the Rangers had some resemblance to the time he spent with the Pens. Specifically, at one point, it felt like the Rangers would do anything Jagr wanted, e.g., bring in his Czech buddies.

Once they began signing guys Jagr wasn't happy about and failed to sign the guy he wanted (Nylander), he probably decided to move on, and going anywhere else in the NHL at that point felt like changing for the worse.

So instead of quitting on the Rangers, he quit on the league. He definitely would have gotten signed by someone, but the contract would likely have been far less flattering, as he was an aging ex-superstar whose rs production dropped from 123 to 71 points in just three years. Hard to predict where a guy like that may land in three more years in his late thirties. And while it was obvious he underperformed in the 07/08 regular season, WSH memories were still fresh. GMs definitely remembered Jagr could coast for years when annoyed.

In Russia, he was still wanted badly and treated like a superstar. No income tax.

 

[MadLuke]

but the contract would likely have been far less flattering,

Then 5 millions a year only 2 years ? If that reporting is right ?

2 years 10 millions do not sound particularly high for Jagr.

Here they said 7 millions (https://www.thestar.com/sports/jagr...cle_4cd6cd4b-5231-5209-bd8a-93988028e123.html) maybe the 10-11 millions mentionned elsewhere is trying to assume value with tax adjustment. If those numbers are true, no way it was for money reason imo.

Cristobal Huet signed a 4 years deals for 22.4 millions that summer, the aging Naslund signed 2 years for 8 millions.

Naslund just had a 60 and 55 pts season, he did not finish that contract, 3 million left on it. Jagr for sure can get more than Naslund at that point he was still playing over 20 minutes a night, he could have had that 10-11 millions equivalent money in the nhl.

Vs the previous capitals big previous contract, yes that true, would have been a big decline but that normal at that age.

 

[Voight]

It's crazy that you can say "in the 08 season he lost a step" and buddy is STILL playing professional hockey.

I mean hes only playing because he owns the team and without him, they wouldn't sell as many tickets and suffer financial difficulties.

 

[CrosbyIsKing87]

Trying to figure out why Jagr does anything is not exactly an exercise in success. The guy is an enigma. But I remember a time that there were rumors that he had lost a LOT of money through gambling at casinos. This was back in 2000-01. This was never confirmed. By 2008 I would think he got himself out of whatever hole he was in (if he was in one). He made very good money with Washington and the NY Rangers. Maybe he got burnt out on the 82 game schedule but this is Jagr we're talking about. He's a bear and always in good shape. I don't think the destination had much to do with it. He played for Avangard Omsk and if you look that up on the map its way out there near Kasakhstan (Yakshemash!). Not really near home. So that leaves money. He got a LOT of money there and as someone already mentioned it was tax-free. I never understood why he went there even with the money he made. The competition could not have been that great and I don't think he speaks Russian so there had to be a language barrier. But whatever. He came back and played a good number of seasons in the NHL after that and he finally patched things up with the Penguins and got his jersey retired. I was glad to see that. I can't wait to see him inducted into the HHOF but that is three years away.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Trying to figure out why Jagr does anything is not exactly an exercise in success. The guy is an enigma. But I remember a time that there were rumors that he had lost a LOT of money through gambling at casinos. This was back in 2000-01. This was never confirmed. By 2008 I would think he got himself out of whatever hole he was in (if he was in one). He made very good money with Washington and the NY Rangers. Maybe he got burnt out on the 82 game schedule but this is Jagr we're talking about. He's a bear and always in good shape. I don't think the destination had much to do with it. He played for Avangard Omsk and if you look that up on the map its way out there near Kasakhstan (Yakshemash!). Not really near home. So that leaves money. He got a LOT of money there and as someone already mentioned it was tax-free. I never understood why he went there even with the money he made. The competition could not have been that great and I don't think he speaks Russian so there had to be a language barrier. But whatever. He came back and played a good number of seasons in the NHL after that and he finally patched things up with the Penguins and got his jersey retired. I was glad to see that. I can't wait to see him inducted into the HHOF but that is three years away.

Did you ever get your bobblehead

 

[MadLuke]

Not really near home. So that leaves money. He got a LOT of money there and as someone already mentioned it was tax-free. I never understood why he went there even with the money he made.

But at least reported money is really not that much, 7 millions for 2 years, that less than old Naslund got for a contract that summer. Even tax free, that really not more than say 2x5.5 in the nhl with a good accountant.

Maybe the reporting around his khl salary is wrong ? or that there was some good product placement deal being the face of the league (I would imagine if he sign in a popular market in the NHL, he could have get good deal here as well)