Panthers get Jaromir Jagr from Devils
The Florida Panthers have acquired five-time NHL scoring champion Jaromir Jagr from the New Jersey Devils for a second-round draft pick in the 2015 NHL draft and a conditional third-round draft pick in the 2016 draft.
The trade was announced Thursday afternoon by both teams.
"We're headed in the right direction,'' said Florida general manager Dale Tallon, whose team entered Thursday two points from the eighth and final playoff spot in the East race. "I'm excited about him coming here and just spending some time with him and watching him play. He's an exciting guy to watch play. He's still got it.''
The Devils will have the choice of either Florida's third-round pick in 2016 or Minnesota's 2016 third-round pick, which had previously been acquired by the Panthers in a deal earlier this week that sent Sean Bergenheim from Florida to Minnesota.
"Jaromir never came to me. We never had a discussion about a trade,'' Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello said. "We never had a discussion about where, when, how, why. That is not something we feel is the way you should operate with players. You have to think of what is best for the organization."
The Panthers will pick up the full prorated remainder of Jagr's $3.5 million salary, but the Devils are responsible for his $2 million games-played bonus, which he has already achieved, Lamoriello confirmed to ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun.
Jagr had 11 goals and 18 assists in 57 games this season for New Jersey. His playing time has been cut recently and he has gone eight games without a point.
Jagr is sixth in NHL history with 716 goals, seventh with 1,068 assists and fifth with 1,784 points in 1,530 career regular-season games over 22 years with Pittsburgh, Washington, the New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Dallas, Boston and New Jersey.
The Czech star also has 78 goals and 121 assists in 202 playoff games. He helped Pittsburgh win Stanley Cup titles in his first two seasons in the NHL in 1990-91 and 1991-92.
Florida was still working out the details Thursday as to when Jagr would make his debut for the team.
"We want to win,'' Tallon said. "We want to win a championship and we're putting the pieces together step-by-step and we're hopeful that Jaromir can lead these young guys to the promised land. It's a win-win for us.''
Florida entered Thursday two points out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Jagr, who turned 43 earlier this month, has been in the league longer than the Panthers have. His NHL debut was Oct. 5, 1990; the Panthers played their first game Oct. 6, 1993.
He was part of his native Czech Republic team that won gold medals at the 1998 Olympics and the world championships in 2005 and 2010. Jagr owns or shares no fewer than 18 NHL records, including his 127 game-winning goals.
Information from ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun and The Associated Press was used in this report.
