Source :
Nhl.com
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first NHL Draft, NHL.com
assembled a 13-member panel to select the best first-round picks of all
time, based on selection number. NHL.com will feature one of the top
first-round picks each day, beginning with the best No. 30 pick on June 1
and culminating with the all-time No. 1 pick on June 30, the day of the
2013 NHL Draft.
Today: The best No. 5 pick: Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins, 1990
When the
Philadelphia Flyers
arrived at the 1990 NHL Draft, they had a skinny Czechoslovakian
forward at the top of their board, and when their turn with the fourth
pick came up,
Jaromir Jagr
was there waiting for them. Instead, Flyers general manager Russ
Farwell got nervous about picking a European player so high and opted
for Canadian center
Mike Ricci.
With the next pick, the
Pittsburgh Penguins
were more than happy to select Jagr. Two Stanley Cups and a treasure
trove of trophies later, NHL.com's Dream Draft panel voted Jagr the best
No. 5 first-round pick.
Jaromir Jagr
CAREER STATISTICS
G: 681 | A: 1,007 | P: 1,688
SOG: 4,881 | +/-: 278
Jagr made an immediate impact in Pittsburgh on and off the ice. He
played a key role in the team winning the Stanley Cup in his first two
seasons, and his productivity -- along with his iconic, thick, black
mullet -- made him one of the most popular players in team history.
Jagr moved from complementary piece to a starring role in 1992-93
with the first of back-to-back 90-point seasons. In the
lockout-shortened 1994-95 season, he won his first of five
Art Ross trophies with 70 points in 48 games.
Jagr was even better in 1995-96, setting career-highs with 62 goals and 149 points, each second to teammate
Mario Lemieux among League leaders.
With Lemieux retiring after that season, Jagr became the Penguins'
top star. He hit the 100-point mark again in 1997-98, with his 102
leading the League and winning the first of four straight
Art Ross
trophies. His best season in that span was 1998-99, when he had 127
points and was second with 44 goals. He won the Hart Trophy as League
MVP and the Lester B. Pearson Award as the League's most outstanding
player as voted by the players.
He won the Pearson/Ross duo in 1999-2000, and in 2000-01 won his fifth
Art Ross with 121 points, to go with 52 goals. But with the Penguins unable to meet Jagr's contract demands, he was traded to the
Washington Capitals
in the summer of 2001, ending an 11-season run in Pittsburgh that saw
him total 439 goals, 640 assists and 1,079 points in 806 games, numbers
that rank second to Lemieux in each category.
Jagr signed a seven-year, $77 million contract, then led the Capitals
in scoring in each of his two full seasons in Washington. However, he
never scored more than 80 points, got the team into the playoffs once,
and with the Capitals looking to cut costs, was traded to the
New York Rangers on Jan. 23, 2004.
After playing in Europe during the 2004-05 lockout, Jagr returned to
New York re-energized and
finished second in the League with 54 goals
and 126 points, each a single-season Rangers record. He finished second
in voting for the Hart Trophy and won the Pearson for the third time.
Named captain prior to the 2006-07 season, he responded by scoring
a goal on his first shift, 29 seconds into a season-opening 5-2 win
against the Capitals at Madison Square Garden. He went on to have his
10th 90-point season and led the team with 30 goals, 66 assists and 96
points, eighth-highest in the League.
Along the way he scored his 600th goal and 1,500th point, and tied
Mike Gartner's NHL record with his 15th straight 30-goal season.
Jagr left the Rangers after the 2007-08 season and spent the next
three playing in Russia. He returned to the NHL at age 39 with the
Philadelphia Flyers in 2011-12 and had 54 points in 73 games while serving as a respected leader. He signed with the
Dallas Stars in the summer of 2012 and was leading the team with 14 goals and 26 points when he was traded to the
Boston Bruins. Four months past his 41st birthday, Jagr remains a vital contributor to the Bruins' run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Jagr ranks 10th in NHL history in goals (681) and eighth in points
(1,688), and is one of 12 players with more than 1,000 assists. He's the
leading scorer among non-Canadian players.
Those marks made him a convincing choice by NHL.com's Dream Draft panel, ahead of Hall of Fame member
Scott Stevens and Jagr teammate
Tom Barrasso.
"Happily, for various reasons, the perception of
Jaromir Jagr
the person has now evolved to match the reality: that he is a hard
worker who deeply cares about the game and his teammates," NHL Vice
President of Public Relations and former Rangers beat writer John
Dellapina said. "The talent never has been in question, an extremely
rare combination of dazzling skill and overwhelming strength. And
anybody with access to an NHL Guide and Record Book must acknowledge
that there have been only a handful of players in League history who
have been more relentlessly productive.
"There were some brilliant players chosen fifth overall. Jagr is a cut above. Jagr is special."
