The New Jersey Devils hope that Jaromir Jagr will help improve their power play, even with Ilya Kovalchuk gone. Jagr generated 11 PPP's last season while Kovalchuk had 14. The real producer might be one who wasn't really mentioned, though; Michael Ryder had an impressive 17 in 2013.

Much like Saturday. Jaromir Jagr didn't skate on Sunday, but the New Jersey Devils pass along word that he continues to improve. Not exactly a great sign for the 41-year-old, but he showed that he still had a considerable amount of offensive talent left in him last season. It might be best to assume that he'll slip a bit, but Jagr is still worth having, and he should get some nice opportunities in a suddenly diverse Devils offense.

Jaromir Jagr didn't take part in Saturday's scrimmage because of lower-body soreness. "I just had a conversation with him and he's feeling better," said coach Pete DeBoer. "Again, I'm not concerned about it in the long term here. We're not going to rush him. He's kind of setting his own time table right now when he wants to get back out (on the ice)." Jagr didn't skate at all Saturday and DeBoer wasn't sure if the veteran winger did off-ice workouts. Consider him day-to-day.

Patrik Elias didn't have a lot of time to get excited about the idea of playing on the same line with countryman Jaromir Jagr. A line with the two greatest Czech-born players in NHL history on the wings and Canadian Travis Zajac as the center made it through just two rushes on the Devils' first day of training camp on Friday before Jagr left the ice and disappeared into the locker room, not to be seen again. Devils coach Pete DeBoer said Jagr left with "just some general soreness, nothing I'm overly concerned about." But make no mistake about the amount of anticipation of Jagr and Elias on the same line in New Jersey. "It's a big thing in Czech for us to play together," Elias said. "Obviously, what he has done, accomplished in his career is amazing and I'm somewhere behind him. But, for Czech people and Czech media it's a big thing."

Jaromir Jagr (lower-body soreness) will skate lightly on Friday. Jagr sustained the ailment during Thursday's practice and there's no timetable for his return. "But we're not concerned," Devils GM Lou Lamoriello said. The team will wait until he's 100% before he rejoins the team for practices.

Jaromir Jagr left Thursday's practice because of "soreness," according to a Devils spokesperson. He begun the session on a line with Travis Zajac and Patrik Elias, but headed off after only two line rushes and roughly 10 minutes of work. These type of injuries are fairly common at the start of training camps, but New Jersey would be wise to monitor the 41-year-old's playing time this year to avoid situations like this in the future.

Jaromir Jagr thinks his three-year stint in the KHL is part of the reason he's still playing hockey today. "It had been 17-18 years, year after year, with so much pressure," Jagr said. "Ten months of hockey, plus the pressure was so much. You have to score every game. It's not easy. Plus me I take everything so personally. That's why I think the three year break in Russia kind of changed me a little bit. That's the reason I'm here in the NHL." In fact, Jagr intends to keep playing beyond the 2013-14 campaign. If he can't get another NHL contract after this season, he'll simply continue his career in the Czech Republic.

New Jersey coach Pete DeBoer is excited to work with Jaromir Jagr this season. "This is a guy who really has changed himself as he's gotten older, his habits, the way he looks at the game and that's not easy to do when you're a great player like that," DeBoer said. "I think what he's done in order to prolong his career has been impressive." The 41-year-old veteran and future Hall of Famer might be playing in his final NHL season this year.

Jaromir Jagr won't fix the Devils' problems with team speed, but he may help out the club with his puck protection skills. New Jersey lost wingers Ilya Kovalchuk and David Clarkson this off-season and sought to replace them with the signings of Jagr, Ryane Clowe and Michael Ryder. None of the players the team added are known for their skating abilities, but they can chip in offensively and collectively they may be able to give the Devils' meager power play a bit of a lift.

Now that Jaromir Jagr has officially signed on for the 2013-14 campaign, he's likely to move up in the NHL's career goal scoring leaderboard. Jagr has netted 681 career goals and that's good for 10th place on the list. However, he's just nine goals shy of Mario Lemieux, 11 goals away from Steve Yzerman, and 13 goals behind Mark Messier. He also has a chance to move from eighth place in the NHL's all-time points list. He has 1,688 career points, which is just 35 less than Lemieux.