(Entertainment-NewsWire.com, October 07, 2012 ) San Francisco, CA- It has been confirmed that Jaromir Jagr was extended an offer from the Columbus Blue Jackets prior to his signing with the Dallas Stars. The bid was an effort to add some needed offense to the Blue Jacket’s offense.
Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch released details of the offer, which would have netted Jagr $4.2 million for a single year of employment.
While Jagr did not accept, accepting a Dallas $4.5 million offer for the same timespan, the move does show that Columbus brass are willing to spend money to improve the team. Not only that, but they are willing to shell out a considerable amount for the right candidate.
While seeing Jagr in the Columbus Blue would have been a bit jolting to some fans, he does have some basic connections to the Columbus organization. Former and long-time general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Craig Patrick, is now the Blue Jackets front office’s senior advisor. He was also the man who drafted Jagr back in 1990 with the No. 5 pick of the draft.
In 73 games last season, Jagr racked up 19 goals and 35 assists for the Flyers. That number would have placed him third among Blue Jackets. Stats like that are the reason for the attempted signing. The Blue Jackets were within the bottom five teams on points, goals per game in the 2011-2012 season. However, the offense is not the lone problem facing Columbus, as they were also the third worst in terms of goals allowed per game last season.
The Jackets also lost a large portion of their offense of the summer, as they traded away Rick Nash for Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, and defenseman Tim Erixon.
