I am surprised, how he enhanced his skating during the offseason. He seems to be even faster than in his Rangers era.
However I have to disagree with livewell68, that Jagr will be a PPG player this year. I remember words of Jagr's physiotherapist Kolar, who said, that at this age is impossible to be in the
top form for the longer period of time. He can completely dominate a few games, but there will be matches, where his body will not work and he will be slow. Also besides his 2+2 in the first game of last season, Jagr's point limit seems to be 2 and its simply not enough for PPG pace, because there will be lots of games, where Jagr gets no points.
If I could try to predict, I think, he is able to have 60-70 points, but only if he remains healthy and coach will continue to let him play around 18 minutes.
Another thing I have to say is, that I am pleasantly suprised, how much Jagr improved his defense. It seems, that playing next to Bergeron helped him a lot. To call him two-way player seems to be a little bit overstated, but Boston fans used to say, that Jagr was defensive liability (I did not agree with them even in the last season) and he definitely is not defensive liability this season. In fact he is better ES player than PP player now. I dont understand why he does not use his deadly one-timers any more, but I suppose, it could be because of his shoulder injury from Rangers-Devils play-off series. Its a shame, because he became 20-goal player instead of 50, he used to be before.
In any case, Devils style of hockey seems to be like tailored for him. He is one of the best corner/board players in the history of this game and in the Deboer's system every attack ends in the corner. Also there are just a few fast players in the team, which makes Jagr to be average skater
. I would be thrilled if there is a possibility that Jagr is signed for next year.
Even in games where he didn't pick up any points (the back-to-back shutout loses and the Leafs game, he was still flat out dominant). Jagr has been "dominant" for the last 10 games or so and since he scored that breakaway goal in the Tampa game, he's been getting better and better. As for that 2+2 game he had last season with Dallas, he didn't look half as good as he has so far with the Devils, in fact after that game he joked around about it "don't get used to it, you might not see many of these games this season". He was right, it was the only 4 Pts game of his season and he had I believe he had only one other 3 Pts game.
The last 2 games alone, he could have easily had 8 points if for instance Ryder and Zubrus finished on the "great set ups" he gave them. The points will start coming as his teammates and linemates develop chemistry with him and gain confidence for themselves and get better. The offense for the whole team will come and since Jagr has been the driving force of that offense, his numbers will increase. I would think being as consistent as he's been is more impressive than if his 14 Pts had come from a couple of 3 Pts games and then him being scoreless in a bunch of other games, what that tells me is that he still has the ability to not just "dominate a few games" but dominate in general.
You have to look at Jagr's current numbers in the grander scheme of things to really see how dominant and consistent he's been, the Devils overall haven't scored that many goals, Jagr missed all of the preseason and missed most of training camp, was awful in the first 2 games, was being moved around on the lines quite a bit in that first 7 games stretch or so and since then, with him playing on some sort of consistent line, he's been creating chances and getting points.
As for you observing that Jagr's been faster this season than he was even in New York, that is true. It was his skating that was keeping him from really dominating since coming back from the KHL. One thing I want to point out about "stamina and fitness" that points to him being able to sustain this pace and even get PPG is that fact that for the first time since his stint in Russia, Jagr is playing big minutes and not looking tired. The last 2 seasons, when Jagr would play extended shifts, he would look tired, would be hunching over grasping for breath if for instance the team iced the puck and he had to remain on the ice and he would usually take himself off the ice despite his linemates still being on (Giroux would play 1-1.5 full minutes per shift, while Jagr would be tired after 40 seconds), this season, he wants to play the minutes, he has been staying on the ice longer during his shifts and I have yet to see him hunch over trying to catch his breath. He's been so good, that even late in games when his team is trying to protect a 1-2 goals leads and the opposing team has pulled their goalie, you see Jagr being on the ice. This tells me two things, DeBoer recognizes how well Jagr has been playing and trusts him to be out in those key situations and that Jagr himself has enough confidence in himself to ask the coach to give him that chance. Jagr is a smart player, if he knew he would be a liability by being on the ice for extended periods of time and late in games, he wouldn't be on the ice. Take the shootout as an example of this.
Jagr took 4 shots against Lundqvist who seems to have his number since Jagr returned from Russia (playing on his team might have given Lundqvist the upper hand in understanding his tendencies) so it seems like even the shooting chances are going up (he hasn't taken 200 + shots or hasn't been on pace to take 200 + shots since his New York days), if his numbers are around the 3-4 shots per game perimeter then that would be another indicator of him being a dominant player and being able to sustain this pace for an extended period of time . The lack of shooting might have been my only criticism I might have had of him earlier on, but he's already admitted that twice in the last 2 post-game interviews and said he "has to be hungrier around the net and be more cognoscente of his shot count and take more shots; of course Jagr clearly still has one heck of a shot and contrary to what you said, because he has more confidence right now, you will start seeing him shoot more. Jagr right now (because he is easily the team's best playmaker) is trying to be set-up man on the powerplay but that will change once Elias gets back. I won't be surprised if Jagr picks up about 6-7 powerplay goals by the time the season's done.
In continuing with the powerplay theme, the fact that Jagr has been so dominant 5-on-5 means that he this isn't just an early season hot streak. Being an effective 5-on-5 player requires being a good skater, and dominating at 5-on-5 means you're an above average skater. He's +6 on the season (leads the team easily there too). Most fans thought that Jagr would pick up some points on the powerplay because "he still has the hands, the vision" but no one anticipated him scoring so effectively when both teams have the same amount of players on the ice since they felt that he had lost quite a few steps.
Last game against the Rangers, I noticed a passion and edge he has lacked since coming back from the KHL. Yes he took 2 penalties but right after those 2 penalties, he created his 2 best chances of the game. The Philly, Dallas and Boston version of Jagr didn't have the confidence to try and go on those breakaways and rushes the way he did against New York, he has that now.
I am almost feeling a PPG season as long as he remains healthy. His shooting numbers will go up and as they do, his goal scoring will go back, and as that does, opposing teams will continue to respect him, covering him more and then giving more space for his teammates to get open and Jagr (with his amazing vision and hands) will find them. It's a matter of time before Zubrus, Ryder, Gelinas, Zajac and Elias (when he gets back) start converting those Jagr passes to goals.