It's not looking like Jaromir Jagr will make a decision about his NHL future until Friday at the earliest. The expectation was for a decision to be announced on Wednesday, but it is now Thursday night and nothing has been decided.
Both the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings are anxiously awaiting a phone call from Jagr (or Jagr's agent, Petr Svoboda) telling them one way or another what is going to happen. With NHL free agency opening on Friday, all the teams involved in this would like to know if Jagr is going to be on their roster going forward so they can plan accordingly. That doesn't seem like it's going to happen, though, based on the latest update on where things stand from Red Wings GM Ken Holland.
"Nothing has really changed," Holland said. "I've continued to have ongoing dialogue, I guess, with his agent, and like I've said, we've expressed interest.
"I'm told he's (Jagr) in North America, somewhere. Beyond that, nothing is really going on.
According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Svoboda said this is such a "tough decision" for Jagr because "Pittsburgh is in his heart." All along it has seemed like the Penguins are the favorite to land Jagr, but perhaps he is having some second thoughts. Jagr has offers from the Pens, Red Wings, Canadiens and the KHL, so he has a number of options. Perhaps that's the problem, though. Jagr may have too many options, because right now it doesn't seem like he can make up his mind.