Revisiting Jaromir Jagr’s Tenure With the Florida Panthers – The Hockey Writers – Florida Panthers

While Jaromir Jagr’s stint with the Panthers won’t be top of most people’s radars across his illustrious career (what would come to mind is obviously his run with the Pittsburgh Penguins and a handful of other teams). However, the Panthers chapter only added to his Hall of Fame-worthy resume and is worth a closer look.

Jagr’s Trade to Florida

First, let’s look back on how he landed with the Panthers. Coming off a relatively short season and a half with the New Jersey Devils, midway through the 2015 campaign, Jagr was sent packing to South Florida in exchange for a 2015 second-round pick and a 2016 third-round pick. Those picks became Ryan Gropp and Rem Pitlick, but the deal brought immediate impact to the Panthers’ lineup and helped fortify the offense as they tried to make a playoff run (they ultimately fell short).

2014-15 Season

In Jagr’s first run with the Panthers for part of the 2014-15 campaign, he appeared in 20 games and recorded six goals and 12 assists for 18 points. He also finished as a plus-7 and racked up six penalty minutes.

The team didn’t make the playoffs, but he helped bring a veteran presence that set them up even better for the next season.

2015-16 Season

In his first full season with the club, he suited up in 79 games and finished with an impressive 27 goals and 39 assists for 66 points. To go along with that, he added 48 penalty minutes and finished with a plus-23 rating. His personal success helped propel the team to a first-round playoff appearance, where he played in all six games and finished with zero goals, two assists, and four penalty minutes.

2016-17 Season

In his third and final season with the Panthers, he took the ice for all 82 games and finished with 16 goals and 30 assists for 46 points. He logged 56 penalty minutes and finished with a plus-2 rating. The team didn’t make a playoff appearance that season, and Jagr eventually moved on to the Calgary Flames, signing as a free agent for the next season.

Awards and Accolades

With the Panthers, even in his age-42, 43, and 44 seasons, he collected votes and nods for a variety of personal accolades and awards. Many of these came in 2015-16, which was tremendously successful from a statistical standpoint. He was an NHL All-Star and ranked fourth among his position in voting.

During 2015-16, he finished 10th in Lady Byng Trophy voting, and in arguably his most impressive accolade with the Panthers is, at age 43, he finished seventh in Hart Memorial Trophy voting. The impressive collection of players that ended up ahead of him were Patrick Kane, Sidney Crosby, Jamie Benn, Braden Holtby, Joe Thornton, and Alex Ovechkin.

Additionally, he finished 35th for the Selke Trophy in 2015-16. The last award he received votes for as a member of the Panthers was in 2016-17, when he finished 49th for the Lady Byng.

Totals With the Panthers

During Jagr’s three-season tenure with the Panthers, he posted solid offensive numbers, playing in 181 games and contributing 49 goals and 81 assists for 130 points. He also finished with a plus-32 rating and added 110 penalty minutes while wearing the Panthers sweater.

Jagr is unquestionably one of the greatest players in NHL history and will no doubt enter the Hockey Hall of Fame when his time comes. While most will remember his career for his play in Pittsburgh and other stops, but his time in South Florida needs to be remembered and discussed when one considers his longevity, production, and ability.