Jagr Traded To Rangers

NHL teams

"He (Jagr) is one of the most successful players in the NHL," said New York coach and general manager Glen Sather. "We need a shot in the arm right now and he was available. Hopefully he'll help us get into the playoffs and go for a while when we get there."

The teams had six months of off-and-on negotiations and finally agreed how to handle the remaining four years of Jagr's $11 million-per-year contract.

"This was a contract that we had to move," Washington general manager George McPhee said. "We couldn't go forward in our market in a new era with this type of deal."

Washington owner Ted Leonsis said that the Capitals would not have to pay any more of Jagr's salary this season, but they would have to pay between $4 million and $4.5 million for each of the remaining four guaranteed years of the contract. The contract, however, would not be paid during a lockout.

"It moves the largest player contract in the NHL to a team that can absorb it," Leonsis said. "And it provides us with options as we seek to improve our team."

"It's a pretty private transaction, and that's the way we're going to keep it," Sather said. "We've been trying to make this deal for quite some time. It's a little over two years ago since he went to Washington when we first tried to make the deal. It's taken a long time to get here, but I'm happy it's here."

The Rangers first tried to land Jagr in 2001, but Pittsburgh traded him to the Capitals instead.