I'm finding it hard to get indignant at the NHL these days.

Bettman remains commissioner, but he also remains a whiney,
long-standing sufferer of a Napoleon complex.

Lemieux got Sidney Crosby, but it's only a matter of time until other teams
question why he can pay himself less than a max salary as a player. It was
cute when the Pens were pathetic, but there's a battle ahead for him.

You show me the black cloud, and I'll show you a great strip club where
you can come in from the rain.

But the recent roasting of Jaromir Jagr based on one quote in an Eastern
European newspaper is chafing me. I understand that when a player joins the
Rangers, his stock around the league plummets by 20%.

But let's call the irony out from under the collapsing weight of accepted
media discourse. Jaromir Jagr, star forward for the New York Rangers, is
one of the best bargains in the NHL.

Compiling the Data

I compared Jagr's scoring statistics from the past four seasons with eight
(8) other star veterans with established contracts for the coming season,
and they are: Mats Sundin, Joe Sakic, Keith Tkachuk, Sergei Federov,
Billy Guerin, Jeremy Roenick, and Alexei Yashin.

I did not include players whose salaries are not yet confirmed (e.g. Joe
Thornton, Forsberg) or young players with limited data.

I recognize that points data is not a complete picture of a player's worth,
but since everyone is talking about scoring in the 'new NHL', it seems an
appropriate place to start.

Conclusion #1: Jagr and Sakic had the best points per game average

This one was a pretty simple calculation.

Jagr: 1.13 points per game (341 points over 302 games)
Sakic: 1.13 points per game (342 over 303)
Tkachuk: 1.04 points per game (280 over 268)
Sundin: 0.94 points per game (301 over 320)
Yashin: 0.91 points per game (262 over 288)
Federov: 0.90 points per game (285 over 316)
Guerin: 0.86 points per game (248 over 288)
Roenick: 0.84 points per game (249 over 296)

Conclusion #2: Jagr and Sakic project equally for this season

Points per game mean little if you're not in the lineup. So for the
next data sweep, I calculated the projected games each player would
suit up for based on average games played over the past 4 years.
Sakic and Jagr remain neck and neck.

Jagr: 86 points
Sakic: 86 points
Sundin: 75 points
Federov: 71 points
Tkachuk: 70 points
Yashin: 66 points
Guerin: 62 points
Roenick: 62 points

Conclusion #3: Jagr is the Best Scoring Bargain by a Mile

In this world of a salary cap, it is no longer enough to judge a
player by his statistics - you must compare that number to the
cap space he occupies. That is a simple calculation where you measure
how many dollars you are spending per point. And this is where Jagr
makes a case for the best-valued scorer in the NHL.

Jagr: $49,382 per point (salary of $4,210,000)
Sakic: $77,894 per point ($6.660,000)
Roenick: $79,357 per point ($4,940,000)
Federov: $85,333 per point ($6,080,000)
Sundin: $90,897 per point ($6,840,000)
Tkachuk: $108,571 per point ($7,600,000)
Guerin: $111,064 per point ($6,886,000)
Yashin: $116,030 per point ($7,600,000)

The Market Sets

So I see that Sergei Zubov, a 35-year old defenseman signs for
$4 million per year for 3 years today with Dallas.

And I noticed that 40-year olds Nieuwendyk and Roberts signed
with Florida and Mike Keenan for $2.5 million each.

All of those headlines bring about hazy memories, and the names
and philosophies seem so ... familiar.

But then I remember that this is 2005. And the Rangers have
arguably the league's best scoring forward on the books for millions
less than what others will pay for his equivalent.

Stange days, indeed ...

-Gabe

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