I think Doodie said it before, but I think much of that depends on who he is playing against. He was dominant against the Flyers for example because he was up against a much smaller and non physical defenseman. When he’s up against Chara and Witt and those bigger hitting guys, its tough for him to get free and have skating room since they shadow him. It doesn’t help that those guys usually hook and hold the hell out of him and don’t get called for penalties, which I have to say I give Jagr credit for not complaining about that.

I’d agree with that except we have Sjostrom who is a much better defensive player and checker. Prucha isn’t big enough to play on that line since its out there to intimidate. If we didn’t have Freddie, then I’d be all for it though.

Would anyone on this board be willing to argue that there is someone on the Rangers who has more offensive skill both shooting and play making in the zone?

Jagr is a one way player, offensive player. He’s been a little better on defense this year but not much. And he doesn’t kill penalties.

That said, if I were the coach – I’m trotting the most skilled offensive player on my team on that power play every time.

The thing that pisses me and probably everyone else off about Jagr is the momentary flashes of absolute domination. He skates 105% for 15 seconds then its right back to normal Jagr – curling once he enters the zone, staying on the ice too long, the slow changes, etc. I know every time I see the 15 seconds of domination I always think to myself “he’s saving it up for the third period” and it never comes, which drives me crazy.

He might not be a Ranger next year but he’s still strong and can still shoot – the pucks are just not finding their way in this year. Someone is going to take a chance on him and pay him whether its another NHL team, Czech, Russian, whatever – he’s not going to play for $3mn or $4mn in NY.