The Return of Double J?

Last week the internet was a buzz with Pens fans contemplating the possibility of Jaromir Jagr of returning home to lace up the skates for the Penguins. As a Pens fan anywhere, hearing "Jagr," "Coming back," and "to Pittsburgh" in the same sentence put some excitement back into your life during the down time of the offseason.  Who wouldn't get excited at the possibility of one of the all-time greats coming back to the city where he started his career?

All this excitement was sparked from an article by Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review explaining that the Penguins were extending an invitation to the Penguins annual summer alumni golf outing, during which they will pay tribute to the 20 year anniversity of the 1990-91 Penguins team which the franchise's first Stanley Cup. Jagr had some very pro-Penguin quotes in the article:

"I'm glad I was number five (drafted overall, otherwise) I would never have played with Mario (Lemieux). I   would never have been in Pittsburgh. Those were my best years."

"I had a chance to watch and play with the best player ever, and that's probably the best thing that happened to me in my life."

Flash forward to today when Jagr added some more fuel to the fire with this quote in an article from the Edmonton Journal:

"You never know. Maybe it will be still fun to go back to NHL. Maybe Pittsburgh. I don't know. Maybe Montreal. Maybe New York. Pittsburgh, I played there for a long time. Mario (Lemieux) is the owner. It's better to play with great centres like (Sidney) Crosby and (Evgeni) Malkin, this game is a little bit easier and I'm not young anymore."

Whoa. Did Jaromir Jagr just basically say that he would like a chance to play with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and suggest that he could possibly do so even at his age?

So if we bring back Double J and insert him into the line up, does it help?  He is 39 years of age and hasn't played in the NHL for three years. We saw the difference between NHL and KHL players in last year's Olympics when team Canada drubbed team Russia. There is a big difference in terms of talent, speed and strength between the two leagues. The talent set is still there with Jagr, and I think comparing him to Alex Kovalev is a bit unfair for Jagr. That should have no weight on the decision on whether to bring Double J back or not. Jagr could help out some team in the NHL, but would he be able to fit into Dan Bylsma's system and help the Penguins? It certainly seems that Bylsma would not likely give in and change his system for a more offensively talented player.  If the price is right, the Penguins almost have to take a chance on him.  The only downfall is that he doesn't have his game any longer, and Bylsma is stuck with having to make the decision of whether to put a legend in the press box, or let him play while the team can't progress because of him.