Jaroslav Zidek, the agent for former Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers star Jaromir Jagr, spoke with Sovetsky Sport's Pavel Lysenkov about Jagr's future.
And it looks like Jagr is not considering any offers from the NHL at this point.
Zidek outlined a few factors that will ultimately affect where Jagr signs. And the first of them may mean he is leaning towards signing with KHL's SKA St. Petersburg. "Jaromir is at the French Open right now. But he may soon come back to [the Czech Republic]. His old friend Radek Stepanek, a Czech tennis player, invited him," Zidek told Lysenkov, who was recently named Russia's Sports Journalist of the Year.
From their conversation:
Q. When do you plan on signing a contract?
ZIDEK: "Everything depends on Jaromir. A week or two, I cannot say for certain. I am waiting for Jagr to get back to Kladno. His house is about 20km from Prague. We'll sit down at a table, discuss all the offers. And Jardo will then decide which team he will sign with and when."
What will affect his decision?
"A few factors. Not too long of a flight from the Czech Republic. A good team. A fitting center [forward]. Jaromir want to have a quality season, to have an ideal feel for the game."
How real is the NHL option?
"I hope we will only negotiate with KHL teams. We have not spoken about a move to North America yet."
Last week SKA's General Manager confirmed the club was interested in signing Jagr. It goes against the team's announced philosophy of getting younger in the offseason. But hey, if Jagr wants to spend just 2 hours on a flight home to the Czech Republic, why not?
Jagr's former team Avangard Omsk, the club that recently signed Alex Frolov, is not out of the running, either.