EDMONTON - Jaromir Jagr was grabbing some dinner with Czech buddy Ales Hemsky on Wednesday night, possibly at a downtown Edmonton restaurant specializing in European cuisine.
“I hope he’s not traded before then ... he says he’s going to pay,” said the Philadelphia Flyers winger, laughing, fully cognizant that his friend is in play as a trade rental as the Oilers entertain offers and try to sign the winger to a short-term contract.
Jagr, whose Flyers face the Oilers at Rexall Place on Thursday, said he’s not sure the 28-year-old Hemsky, an unrestricted free agent, wouldn’t benefit from a change of address at this point in his career.
“I haven’t asked Ales about it,” admitted Jagr, who did say, however, that he was “very close” to signing with the Oilers in 2008 after leaving the New York Rangers. He ended up committing to play in the Siberian city of Omsk in the Kontinental Hockey League.
The Oilers do not want to offer Hemsky a long-term deal because they know they’ll have to dig deep to offer more lucrative second contracts to star sophomores Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle in 2013 and rookie centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in 2014 when their entry-level deals end.
If the NHL salary cap of $64 million US goes down by 10 per cent in a new collective bargaining agreement — providing the players and owners can agree on a new CBA before next season — that’s a smaller piece of pie for every team.
Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini has spoken to Hemsky’s agent, Jri Crha, and knows what it’ll cost to bring him back.
Hemsky seems to want four or five years in a new contract, as is his right as an impending unrestricted free agent. The Oilers, however, would likely give him another two years at $5 million a season.
The Oilers will likely wait until the last minute, until after they find out where Columbus Blue Jackets forwards Rick Nash and Jeff Carter end up — if they go anywhere.
Hemsky, who was drafted by the Oilers in 2000, 13th overall in the first round, will become more valuable an hour before the 1 p.m. trade deadline, if the offers are lukewarm right now.
“If Wayne Gretzky got traded, anybody can be traded,” said Jagr.
“Whatever management wants to do, they’ll do. Might be good for them, might be good for (Hemsky),” said Jagr. “He’s got talent.
“Maybe if he went to a different team it would like a new start. Maybe he gets 100 points. He’s that skilled,” said Jagr, who played with Hemsky on the 2006 Czech Republic Olympic team in Turin, Italy.
“Sometimes staying in one place won’t help players ... Maybe that’s what he needs. But I haven’t seen Ales play the last few years, being in Russia. We haven’t played together in three years, since the world championship.”
Jagr knows he could have been teammates with Hemsky. But the timing just wasn’t right.
“You know how it is, you don’t want to break a promise,” said Jagr. “Sometimes when you break something, it can hurt you later. It was only a matter of days, one or two, from when I was supposed to go to Russia that the Oilers contacted me.
“I thought I was too old to change teams. I told the team in Russia I would go there if I didn’t sign in New York.”
Jagr said he talked to then GM Kevin Lowe. This was before the Oilers began their rebuild, and before they made a deal for Dany Heatley in 2009, only to have him say no thanks because he had a no-trade clause in his contract.
“I was interested. They had a new owner. Maybe in my next life,” kidded Jagr.
If anybody thought Jagr would struggle after being away from the NHL for three years, they were dead wrong.
He has 42 points, including 16 goals, in 50 games with the Flyers. He scored the overtime winner against the Jets in Winnipeg on Tuesday, his 16th career overtime goal, which is an NHL record. He just turned 40 last Wednesday and could have 50 points at this stage of the season if it were not for a couple of groin issues.
“I missed about 10 games. I came back, got reinjured again. Maybe I came back too early, I wasn’t ready. I don’t like sitting around. I didn’t miss a game the last seven years and all of a sudden I pull my groin. Maybe I didn’t know how to treat it, how to be patient,” said Jagr.
It looked like the final chapter in his Hall-of-Fame career — he’s 11th in NHL goals with 660 and tied with Joe Sakic for eighth in career points (1,641) — when he went to opted to try out the KHL. But he signed with the Flyers, much to the dismay of Penguins fans.
“I never thought I’d be back, but I’m glad I am. This is a young team, I’m having lots of fun,” said Jagr, the last player off the ice at Wednesday’s practice.
The NHL has changed since Jagr left for Russia in 2008, however. It’s racehorse fast, but the mentality of managing teams has changed as well.
“Teams would rather have young guys than older guys. Detroit keeps their older guys and look at them? The younger guys are quicker, no question about it, but you have to learn.
“I’m 40 and I’m still learning. You stop learning, you stop living,” he said.
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