Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
A benefit for Jagr is he doesn't hurt you while he's on the ice. He was still a plus player last season. I'm against this nonsense of bringing in has beens, but if you do, Jagr is the much better option.
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That has a LOT to do with playing with Barkov. Barkov was +13 this year on the Panthers. The next closest player was a +6 Seth Griffith in just 21 games. Jagr was +2, but mostly due to the even strength points he put up this year. The rest of the team was even or in the minus.
Barkov's GA/60 was 2.11 last year. His teammates GA/60 without him balloons to 2.74. This is inline with his Fenwick number where his FA/60 was 38.76 and his Team FA/60 was 43.32.
This is not to say that Jagr was a full-on liability, but he did struggle mightily to get back into the play once the puck was turned over the other way. The only reason his plus/minus wasn't lower is because Barkov does so much of the heavy lifting defensively on his line.
It's not to say that Jagr can't still put up points, but largely it's because he can rely on a defensive center to take care of his own zone so he can cheat a little offensively. It's basically Iginla 2.0.
tl/dr: Barkov is a stud, and Jagr has been lucky to play with him.