BOSTON — The Boston Bruins have acquired Jaromir Jagr from the Dallas Stars, hoping the 10th-leading goal scorer in NHL history can improve their shaky offense.
Jagr, who leads the Stars in points this season, was traded Tuesday for two prospects, forwards Lane MacDermid and Cody Payne, and a conditional second-round pick in this year’s draft.
The deal came five days after the Bruins thought they obtained forward Jarome Iginla from the Calgary Flames, only to learn Iginla had been traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In his first season with the Stars, the 41-year-old Jagr has 14 goals and 26 points. Brad Marchand leads the Bruins with 14 goals and Patrice Bergeron is first with 31 points. Jagr has 679 career goals.
Jagr also has six power-play goals, twice as many as Bruins leaders Marchand and Tyler Seguin, and should help the team with the 24th-ranked power play in the NHL going into Tuesday night’s game against the Ottawa Senators.
With the trade deadline coming Wednesday and the Stars in 12th place in the Western Conference, they decided to trade a player who could become a free agent after the season.
“Jaromir Jagr produced as a consistent scorer for our team all year and we would like to thank him for his contributions to our hockey club,” said Dallas Stars general manager Joe Nieuwendyk. “With our eye to the future, we have acquired some valuable assets that we believe strengthen our organization.”
Jagr is far below the peak of a career. He’s won five scoring titles, 1998-99 league MVP honors and Stanley Cups in his first two NHL seasons, with the Penguins in 1990-91 and 1991-92, after they took him with the fifth pick in the 1990 draft.
But his strength and scoring ability could spark a Bruins team that was in fourth place in the East but ranked just seventh in the conference in goals — with only 17 in their last eight games — at the time of the trade.
Jagr joins his sixth team after playing for Pittsburgh, the Washington Capitals, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and Dallas. He spent three seasons in Russia before returning to the NHL with the Flyers last season.
Jagr’s 679 goals are 11 behind Mario Lemieux, who is ninth in NHL history. Jagr is 12th with 1,000 assists and eighth with 1,679 points. His 116 game-winning goals are second, two behind Phil Esposito, and his 195 power-play goals are 18th.
The Bruins had preferred to trade for Iginla, and general manager Peter Chiarelli thought he had done that last Thursday in exchange for defenseman Matt Bartkowski, minor-league forward Alexander Khokhlachev and a first-round draft choice.
But the Flames captain chose to go to Pittsburgh. He had a no-trade clause that allowed him to waive it for whatever team he picked.
The Stars get two players who were not among the Bruins’ top prospects.
MacDermid, 23, has played in eight NHL games with no points and seven shots. In 37 games this season for the Providence Bruins of the AHL, he has four goals and two assists.
Payne, 19, had 24 goals and 21 assists with 75 penalty minutes in 60 games this season with the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League. The Bruins drafted him in the fifth round last year.
The second-round pick becomes a first-rounder if the Bruins reach the Eastern Conference finals this year.
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