OLD DOGS HAVE VALUE, BUT ONLY IF THEY CAN PLAY
Jagr, Doan, Iginla and Thornton top list of elder statesmen who may still be of use
A couple of days before the start of the NHL’s free agency period, Jaromir Jagr tweeted out sideby-side pictures of himself taken 23 years apart.
In one, a 22-year-old, barechested, absolutely ripped Jagr was holding a phone to his ear and smiling. In the other, the now 45-year-old was staring forlornly at a phone that seemingly had not rung for days.
The tweet read: “FA 1994 — all GMs called, FA 2017 — 0 calls.”
A smiling emoji at the end of the sentence indicated Jagr, who apparently is in talks to return to the Florida Panthers for another year, was only joking. But it was still an accurate commentary on what it’s like to be a past-yourprime veteran in the NHL.
It’s not just Jagr who is complaining that no one visits him in the nursing home anymore.
On Friday, the New Jersey Devils placed Mike Cammalleri on waivers for the purpose of buying out the remainder of his contract. The 35-year-old now joins a group of old-timers that includes Joe Thornton (who turns 38 Sunday), Jarome Iginla (40) and Shane Doan (40) who are all looking for jobs this summer.
As Jagr tweeted, 10 years ago, their phones would have been ringing off the hook. But that was when phones still had hooks and when former stars like Chris Kunitz (37) and Patrick Marleau (37) had not lost a step in a league that keeps getting faster.
The question now is whether these future Hall of Fame players can still play a vital role as they enter the fourth-line stage of their career.
Does a young team, such as the Toronto Maple Leafs, benefit from having Thornton or Doan in the dressing room? Is it worthwhile to have Iginla around to impart wisdom on Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl?
The answer is yes — as long as the old fart can still play.
“I think for the Leafs, they could use some help because they’re such a young team and you could use somebody to guide Auston Matthews through what he needs to do,” TSN hockey analyst and former NHL forward Jeff O’Neill said. “Could a Joe Thornton or a Patrick Marleau or Jarome Iginla help in that area? Sure. But honestly, when you have that alpha dog superstar, like a Sidney Crosby or a Connor McDavid, they figure it out on their own.”
More and more that seems to be the way the league is leaning. The Arizona Coyotes had no problem keeping Doan around when he was scoring 28 goals and 47 points in 2015-16. But after his production dropped to six goals and 27 points last season, the team decided to move on.
It’s something that didn’t happen as often in the old days, when veterans were seen as necessary ingredients in a Stanley Cup contender. Of course, you could hide them on the fourth line back then. That’s no longer the case.
“It’s about finding the right older guy,” said hockey analyst and former NHL centre Dave Poulin, who in the summer of 1993 was a 34-year-old centre looking for one final pay day. He eventually chose the Washington Capitals, believing they were on the cusp of winning a championship. All the team was missing was some experience, which is where Poulin came in.
“That’s what (then-Capitals GM) David Poile wanted, because he had watched me in Philly for all those years,” Poulin said. “The problem was I wasn’t the player I was in Philly anymore.”
Sometimes, experience can be an intangible that works. At last season’s trade deadline, the Penguins acquired 36-year-old defenceman Ron Hainsey, who ended up playing a top-pairing role for the championship team after Kris Letang went out with an injury. The Leafs had similar success in trading for Brian Boyle who, at 32, instantly became the team’s oldest player.
“Brian Boyle had playoff experience, which the Leafs didn’t have,” Poulin said. “But he also clearly played an important role in faceoffs and penalty killing. Do the Leafs need it this year? I’m not in that locker-room, but (head coach) Mike Babcock essentially plays a large part of that role. But at some point in their championship run, he’s got to turn it over to the lockerroom.”
When he does, the question will be whether Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and the rest of kids still need a babysitter around. If the answer is yes, the challenge is finding a babysitter that does more than just sit around on the fourth line.
Every team would like to add the Thornton from two years ago, who tied for fourth in league scoring with 82 points. But there is far less value in the player who last season had just seven goals and the worst points-per-game average of his career. The same goes for Iginla, whose leadership abilities might fall on deaf ears if he cannot even reach the 15-goal mark.
“It’s like when you’re not playing well, you can’t be the rah-rah guy,” O’Neill said. “When you’re not going out there on a regular basis, it’s hard to be that alpha dog leader. These kids will look at you and say, ‘Dude, you’re not even playing.’ That’s just their mentality these days.”