AND what would Craig Patrick do, exactly, if Glen Sather were to announce this afternoon that the Rangers are no longer interested in Jaromir Jagr? To whom then would the Pittsburgh GM turn in an effort to locate a landing spot for a $20.7 million obligation and how would he explain the futility of such a search to a most interested party named Mario Lemieux?
Make no mistake: The Jagr Derby is a one-horse race and Sather’s riding it. The Pittsburgh GM can complain and campaign all he wants about receiving fair market value for the league’s leading scorer, but all of his words are destined to fall on the deaf ears of owners who have no room in their respective budgets for No. 68.
Beyond that, there is no objective, independent measurement of Jagr’s market value. The market value will be determined by those participating in the auction, just as the market value for Jeremy Roenick was established last week. Patrick can huff and puff all he wants, can invent any number of paper dragons, but the fact remains that all the posturing in the world will not move Sather off his perception of Jagr’s worth.
And then there’s this. A package of Jan Hlavac, Mike York and Kim Johnsson – if, as believed, is what the Rangers are willing to send to Pittsburgh – can hardly be considered a bag of shells. Hlavac would likely score 35 goals playing on Lemieux’s left side. York, who would become Pittsburgh’s third-line center, would add grit to a team that doesn’t have very much of it, at all. Johnsson, who makes the first pass better than any current Penguin defenseman, would probably play on the first unit.
Moreover, Johnsson is 25, Hlavac will turn 25 during training camp and York is 23. Beyond that, the three combined will earn under $2.1M this coming season. Add it all up (plus the $4M-to-$5M the Dolans will toss into the pot), and one might even argue that the Rangers are giving up too much for Jagr, especially when the Penguins have no choice whatsoever but to move him.
But it’s not too much, not for the 29-year-old Jagr, a great player who won the scoring title despite having a miserable year and whose presence on the right side automatically would elevate Petr Nedved into a legitimate first-line center and give the Rangers a threat for every one of the 24 minutes a night they’re on the ice (with Brett Hull?).
The Ranger package is fair, it’s fair within context and it’s fair within every historical NHL guideline.
Because they had to, the Oilers traded a 30-year-old Mark Messier for a by-then warmed-over Bernie Nicholls, a few bags of pucks, and a ton of cash. Because they had to, the Canucks traded a 27-year-old Pavel Bure for Ed Jovanovski, a No. 1 and nobody else of note.
And even Wayne Gretzky at 27, even Gretzky still at the height of his powers, could bring back only Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, three future first-rounders who never became anybody of value, and loads of cash . . . and Gretzky went with Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski, too.
What’s more, in not a single one of those trades did the acquiring team accept its partner’s $20.7M contractual obligation.
Sather is acting honorably here with Patrick, who simply cannot afford to have Jagr on the payroll when arbitration season begins in three weeks. Agents across the continent with clients on the Penguins report that there is no negotiating whatsoever taking place. There’s a logjam in Pittsburgh and it will exist so long as that $10M for 2001-2002 remains on the books.
Patrick need not apologize for attempting to do what’s best for his team. But as it becomes more evident every day that the Rangers are running this race on their own, he has nothing to gain by stalling. The sooner this is done, the better.
Because the Rangers’ offer isn’t going to get any better tomorrow than it was yesterday.
Pittsburgh can take that to the bank.