In something that’s been rumored for at least a week but finally became a reality today, the Devils confirmed that yes, Jaromir Jagr is indeed joining the red and white on a one-year deal with a $2 million base salary and another $2 million in games played bonuses.  It was a move both expected and filled with irony, as the Devils replaced a rare big-name signing (Ilya Kovalchuk) with another one in the future Hall-of-Famer.  Unlike the Russian merc though, this deal isn’t about money and is in fact an even more cap-friendly deal than I thought it might be, although other older stars like Daniel Alfredsson and Jarome Iginla took similarly structured contracts this offseason.

During an abbreviated conference call (which was cut short when two gasbags on XM left their line open while listening to the conference call and started blasting inappropriate language), Jagr admitted he was in talks with 3-4 teams and also that GM Lou Lamoriello first contacted him before Kovalchuk ‘retired’.  Which lends credence to the fact that Lou knew the Russian merc was gone before everyone else did.  To nobody’s surprise Lou confirmed Jagr would be allowed to keep his #68, stating something everyone who followed the Devils already knew – the exception on high numbers applies only to potential Hall of Famers.  Only Alexander Mogilny and Doug Gilmour had ever worn numbers over 44 on the Devils for the last two and a half decades, after all.

What Devil fans care about more than the number on his back though, is the numbers he can put up on the scoresheet.  Yes, he had a bad playoffs statistically after playing a full lockout season and also overseas during the lockout, but there’s two positives that can be taken from Jagr’s year at 41 – he had 16 goals and 19 assists in 45 regular season games (which would have rated second in points on the Devils last year behind countryman Patrik Elias), and he stayed healthy.  There’s something to be said for being able to play almost 100 games total between overseas and the NHL season/playoffs at the age of 41.  Not to mention the price/term is right.  There’s literally nothing to nitpick about this deal.

Funny thing is now Jagr’s played for almost every team in the old Patrick Division (including the Caps) other than the Islanders.  And in a oddity, the Devils now have the only two active NHL players from the 1990 draft on their roster with of course Martin Brodeur being the other.  Of course there’s a certain amount of concern with being old and staying old, but really what else were the Devils supposed to do when Kovalchuk took a fortune in rubles to go home?  Throw silly money at an unknown quantity in Damien Brunner or another Russian headcase in Mikhail Grabovski?

So is Lou done now?  Well not quite since the Adam Henrique long-term deal is still in a holding pattern, still ‘close, but not done’, the way it has been the last two weeks.  Once that deal gets done, the Devils will have fifteen forwards with an NHL contract, fourteen of them on a one-way deal (2012 playoff revelation Stephen Gionta being the only exception as his deal converts to a two-way this year).  Being $4.6 million away from the celing before Henrique’s deal, the Devils don’t have a lot of room left to do any additions – though the Jagr deal gives them another couple million in bonus flexibility which they can roll over to next year should they choose – but with fourteen/fifteen forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies signed it might be academic anyway.  Unless a trade is worked out, this might be the team we go to camp with.  While it’s not the team I might have been hoping for two months ago, Lou’s truly done just about all he can given the twin departures of Kovalchuk and David Clarkson.

Who knows though, maybe he’s got another trick or two up his sleeve yet this offseason.  Lou even acknowledged the fans in an oddly sentimental manner:

“And our fans deserve to have a good hockey team,” Lamoriello said. “That’s something that’s important with all that’s transpired.”