Jaromir Jagr's agent reaches out to Red Wings, other teams

The agent for Jaromir Jagr has reached out to the Detroit Red Wings about signing the former NHL great.

It's a prospect the Wings are considering, with reservations. Jagr is 39 and hasn't played in the NHL since 2007-08, having spent the past three seasons in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League. The last player the Red Wings embraced from the KHL was Jiri Hudler, who looked like he regressed during his time overseas.

But Hudler isn't as skilled as Jagr was in his prime, and Jagr has put up good numbers with Avangard Omsk, most recently producing 19 goals and 50 points in 49 games last season. He had 42 points in 51 games in 2009-10 and 53 points (including 25 goals) in 55 games in '08-09.

He was one of the best players in the NHL in the 1990s. He won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins and got the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 1999 (he was a finalist in 1995, 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2006).

The Wings are intrigued by the thought of what Jagr might be able to do but noted that there are reservations. Any deal would be for one year and would have to be at a sensible salary cap hit, such as around $2 million, plus incentives.

The Wings are looking for a top-six forward, and a motivated Jagr could be lethal on the right side of center Pavel Datsyuk and help out on the power play. For the Wings, it comes down to deciding whether Jagr is the best value for their money as they seek to improve a team that has lost in the second round of the playoffs two years running.

Jagr also has approached two of his former teams, the Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers, about signing with them.

Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to For more information about reprints & permissions , visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com