After all the waiting and fretting and JagrWatching Wednesday about Jaromir Jagr, the details of his flight to the United States, and whether he would decide to sign with the Penguins when he landed, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that Jagr and the Penguins had an agreement even before Jagr left.
But longtime acquaintances of team co-owner Mario Lemieux and NHL agents told the Tribune-Review an agreement was in place even as Jagr flew from the Czech Republic to the United States.
There was no confirmation of an agreement from the Penguins, Jagr or Jagr's agent, Petr Svoboda.
We'll have to wait until later in the day Thursday, at least, to get confirmation of this, but I learned from blogging about the Pirates that Dejan Kovacevic doesn't get out in front of things like this without knowing what he's talking about.
It also appears that the deal the Penguins offered Jagr was for one year and $2 million, in contrast to a report coming from a Russian newspaper Wednesday afternoon that claimed Jagr and the Penguins had already reached agreement on a $1.4 million contract.
In any case, the chances that Jagr will be a Penguin in 2011-2012 have now increased from "very likely" to "extremely likely." We'll see what develops Thursday.
For more on Jaromir Jagr and the Penguins, check out PensBurgh.