Jagr, not officially retired, says professional hockey career likely complete

WILLOW GROVE, Pa. -- Jaromir Jagr isn't ready to say he's retired. But the hockey legend doesn't anticipate playing another game anytime soon.

"Not official," Jagr told NHL.com when asked if he was retired. "I didn't say that. ... It doesn't make sense to me to practice at my age, and get ready at my age, spending so much time in my life doing this for hockey and my ice time is like maximum 12 minutes a game. And it's the traveling and everything. At my age, it's not worth it."

The 54-year-old forward last played for Kladno in Extraliga, the top league in his native Czechia, on Dec. 21. He had one assist and a minus-7 rating in six games.

Kladno's season ended March 15 with a five-game loss to Sparta in the preliminary round of the Extraliga playoffs.

It was Jagr's ninth season back with his hometown team, which he returned to after leaving the Calgary Flames early in the 2017-18 season.

Jagr also had been a majority owner of the club since 2011-12, but in January, 2025, he sold 80 percent and remains a minority owner.

He spent Saturday taking pictures and signing autographs for about 300 fans at a sports collectibles store at Willow Grove Mall, about 30 miles north of Philadelphia. He'll also be spending some extended time soon in Miami, and has other things he'd like to do that are pushing his hockey career farther into his rear-view mirror.

"I still like (playing), but I don't know how long I'm going to be active, be able to walk and enjoy my life," he said. "I'm 54, so on my side I've got maybe 15 more years. I want to spend it the way that I want to. I'm talking about active. You can be alive until you're probably 80, if you're lucky. But I'm talking about the active life."

If Jagr truly is done playing, it would close the book on a remarkable 38-season professional career that began when he debuted with Kladno as a 16-year-old in 1988-89.

He was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins with the No. 5 pick of the 1990 NHL Draft, and helped the Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 1991 and 1992.

Jagr spent 24 seasons in two acts in the NHL. He played 18 seasons with the Penguins, Washington Capitals and New York Rangers from 1990-2008. During that span he won the Hart Trophy as NHL most valuable player in 1999, the Ted Lindsay Award as the most outstanding player as chosen by the NHL Players' Association three times (1999, 2000, 2006), and the Art Ross Trophy as the League's leading scorer five times, including four straight from 1997-98 to 2000-01. The only players with more are Wayne Gretzky (10), Gordie Howe (six) and Mario Lemieux (six), and the only player to lead the League in scoring in more consecutive seasons was Gretzky (seven, 1981-87).

He left the NHL to play three seasons with Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League in 2008, but returned in 2011 to play seven more seasons, with the Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, Florida Panthers and the Flames.

Jagr ranks in the top five in NHL history in points (1,921, second), goals (766, fourth), assists (1,155, fifth) and games played (1,733, fourth). His 201 points (78 goals, 123 assists) in 208 playoff games are tied with Sidney Crosby for fifth all-time.

He also helped Czechia win the gold medal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, the first to include NHL players, and he won a bronze medal at the 2006 Torino Olympics.

Jagr is a member of the Triple Gold Club, combining his Stanley Cup championships with his gold medal at the Olympics and at the IIHF World Championship (2005, 2010).

The Penguins retired his No. 68 on Feb. 18, 2024, and he was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame later that year.

He would become eligible for the Hockey Hall of Fame three seasons after his final game, meaning if he doesn't play again, he would be eligible in 2029.