In his prime, right winger Jarome Iginla was a premier power forward in the league. Although he has lost a few steps in recent years as he has aged, he could still serve as a potential middle six winger for some teams but remains unsigned as we near the one-month mark of free agency.
Iginla split 2016-17 between the Avalanche and Kings and while his performance with the former wasn’t the greatest, he did provide some signs that he can still help a team with the latter. His role with Colorado diminished throughout the season and as a result, he was often in their bottom six, hardly a good sign for a team that was completely bereft of scoring.
There was plenty of trade speculation as the days ticked down to the trade deadline and the 40-year-old eventually was moved to Los Angeles in what basically amounted to a partial salary dump. That seemed to spark Iginla, who picked up nine points (6-3-9) in 19 games with the Kings while seeing his ice time jump back over 16 minutes a night. If he could sustain that level of production (or even close to it), he could be a bargain for whoever signs him.
However, as the game continues to speed up, Iginla is heading in the wrong direction. He’s far from at his best in transition and is better suited for slower paced situations. That alone will have quite a few teams looking in other directions before even factoring in anything else. But, with 1,300 career points as well as a strong reputation off the ice under his belt, there still should be some teams kicking the tires if he wants to stick around for another year.
Potential Suitors
At this stage of his career, it’s hard to imagine that Iginla would be interested in joining any rebuilding teams. He’d surely prefer a team that’s expected to contend but if one of those teams were to express an interest, it likely would have happened already.
The Bruins have been speculated as a possible fit. While they have some youngsters on the horizon, Iginla would represent an affordable hedge against some of them not being ready right away. He’s also familiar with the organization having played for them back in 2013-14 and he recently bought a house in the area. Calgary is also quite familiar with Iginla as he spent parts of 16 seasons with the team. There could be a third line spot on the wing available for him and it would be an opportunity for his career to come full circle. Iginla fit in well with Los Angeles but they’re looking to transition towards more speed which all but takes them out of the running.
A non-NHL option in play is the Canadian Olympic Team. With the NHL not participating in the 2018 Games, Iginla would be a candidate to suit up for them as well as playing in some pre-Olympic tournaments. That would then open him to potentially signing with an NHL team for the stretch run (though he would have to pass through waivers first). That would allow him to play a more limited schedule than a typical 82-game stretch which might be most beneficial for him.
Projected Contract
Back in June, Iginla ranked 33rd on our Top 50 Free Agents list with a projected one-year, $1MM contract. If he decides to play in the NHL for another year, that’s still a reasonable expectation for a new deal for him although there could be a few bonuses in there as well. As the calendar gets closer to training camp though, the Olympic option will probably become more and more of a serious option if retirement isn’t on the table.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.