We were kind of hoping that Jaromir Jagr would end up with the New York Islanders at this NHL trade deadline, just so he could have played for every Old Atlantic Division club in his career. But instead he’s going to the Florida Panthers, traded on Thursday evening in exchange for two draft picks. Old person jokes! Yes!
How this is good for the Flyers
Florida’s second round pick in 2015 and a conditional third round pick — either Florida or Minnesota’s pick in 2016 — are the return for an over-the-hill rental player, which tells us one clear thing: this is a sellers market.
Add this deal in with the Andrej Sekera deal from Wednesday and some of the trades the other small trades that have happened this week and that bodes well for teams like the Flyers who have some pieces to move. Maybe they don’t trade a top-four defenseman like Braydon Coburn, but more and more, this seems like a market that benefits teams that want to move some pieces. Let’s see what Ron Hextall can do with that.
How this hurts the Flyers
This kind of sucks for the Flyers playoff chances. Florida is right there with the Flyers in the race, and there’s no doubt that adding Jagr makes them a better team. He’s old, but we all know the dude can still play. It’s not like one guy is going to make the entire difference, but he makes the Panthers just a bit more dangerous — and with as tight as this race might be, that’s not good for the Flyers.
