It’s far from a guarantee, but New Jersey Devils head coach Peter DeBoer said that he believes Jaromir Jagr will be healthy enough to play in the team’s season-opener, the Newark Star-Ledger reports.
“I believe he’ll be ready. That’s just my opinion,” DeBoer said on Sunday. “I’d like to see him in an exhibition game or two in a perfect world, but I think he’ll be ready.”
Indeed, it would be preferable for the 41-year-old to get more acquainted with his new team, but it’s not as if the veteran struggles with quick transitions.
He’s played for three different NHL teams in the last two seasons and played well, even for a much younger forward. Even so, the Devils feature a variety of new parts heading into 2013-14, so there might be some growing pains to go with what seems like aging pains.
