A report in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says that all the fretting Pittsburgh Penguins fans were doing Wednesday over the possible signing of Jaromir Jagr was ultimately unnecessary, because Jagr and the Pens had already reached an agreement before Jagr flew to the United States Wednesday afternoon.
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.
None of the parties involved - Jagr, Jagr's agent Petr Svoboda, or the Penguins - have confirmed anything yet, but Dejan Kovacevic of the Trib is a very good reporter, so this appears very likely to be true.
It appears that the deal will pay Jagr $2 million for one year.
A large swath of the tweetscape Wednesday was dominated by rumors and speculation about Jagr from Penguins fans excited about the possibility of the return of the former Pens star and future Hall-Of-Famer.
Most of that is just '90s nostalgia talking, but Jagr should also have present-day value to the Penguins. He'll help stabilize their wobbly bunch of wingers (and the re-signings of Pascal Dupuis and Arron Asham this week also help with that), and he'll help on the power play, which was a weakness down the stretch in 2010-2011.
For more on Jaromir Jagr and the Penguins, check out PensBurgh and SB Nation Pittsburgh.