Jagr Agrees to Lucrative Four-Year Contract Extension

Jaromir Jagr always wanted to play like Mario Lemieux. Now, he’ll be paid like him.

Jagr, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ brightest star now that Lemieux has retired, agreed Tuesday to a four-year contract extension worth $38 million that will make him the NHL’s highest-paid player.

The total value of what now becomes a six-year contract is $48 million. Jagr will make $5.1 million this season and $4.75 million next under his old contract before his salary climbs to $9.5 million in the 1999-2000 season.

The NHL scoring leader would become the league’s first $10 million-a-year player when he makes $10.4 million in 2002-03, though another player probably will have long since eclipsed that figure by then.

Currently, the NHL’s top contracts belong to Eric Lindros of Philadelphia and Paul Kariya of the Mighty Ducks, who will make $8.5 million next season.

“You never know where the dollars are going to go,” Jagr said. “But I want to play here and I want to stay here. I want to finish my career here.”

Jagr’s deal eclipses the $42-million, seven-year deal reached by Lemieux in October 1992. However, that contract was reworked several times before Lemieux retired last spring, and the Penguins still owe him money.

One reason why the Penguins didn’t want to rework the remaining two years of Jagr’s contract was the deferred money owed Lemieux, who is making $8 million this season.

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Calgary defenseman Zarley Zalapski, who is being paid $1.6 million this season but is a minus-11 in 35 games, apparently is on his way out.

Zalapski has been a healthy scratch in several games recently and was left behind as the Flames embark on a two-game California road trip beginning today in Anaheim. Zalapski also has been asked not to practice with the team.

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St. Louis right wing Brett Hull will return to action Thursday against Toronto after sitting out the last 12 games because of a broken left hand.

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Injured Detroit Red Wing defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov likely will accompany the team on Friday’s visit to the White House to be congratulated on the team’s Stanley Cup championship, General Manager Ken Holland said.

It would be Konstantinov’s first public appearance since he suffered serious head injuries in a limousine crash six days after the Red Wings defeated Philadelphia to win the Stanley Cup.

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A cold and allergy medicine may get NHL players into trouble at the Olympics, according to Sports Illustrated.

Two NHL trainers estimate that 20% of the league’s players use Sudafed, an over-the-counter antihistamine. The medicine contains pseudoephedrine, a stimulant banned by the IOC.

“It’s the NHL’s dirty little secret,” the magazine reported in this week’s issue, reporting an unidentified former coach said one of his players took as many as 20 before games.

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Wayne Gretzky will receive the insignia of Officer of the Order of Canada today in Ottawa. The honor, given to those who “exemplify the highest qualities of citizenship and whose contributions enrich the lives of their contemporaries,” will be presented by Governor General Romeo LeBlanc. The honor is among the highest awarded by Canada.