Jaromir Jagr is four years older than every other player in the NHL this season, and at 43 is one of the oldest players to ever play in the NHL. He is still playing at a high enough level to be the leading scorer on a first-place team (the Florida Panthers) and be selected for the 2016 All-Star Game.
Earlier this season we looked at the fact a pretty significant portion of the active players in the NHL were not even born when Jagr made his NHL debut, making his playing career older than most of the players in the league.
So ... how many of those players that were born after Jagr made his NHL debut on Oct. 5, 1990, are going to be playing alongside of him in the 2016 All-Star Game?
Quite a few, actually. Eleven to be exact. Here is the complete list, from youngest to oldest.
1) Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings
Born: July 30, 1996. When Larkin, the youngest player at this year's game, was born Jagr had already played in three All-Star Games, won both of his Stanley Cup rings, won his first scoring title and had scored 219 goals in the NHL.
2) Aaron Ekblad, Florida Panthers
Born: Feb. 7, 1996. One of Jagr's many Florida teammates young enough to be his son. Jagr scored his 200th NHL goal the day Ekblad was born.
3. Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames
Born: Aug. 13, 1993. Gaudreau is on the list of All-Stars you should probably get to know a little bit better because he is one of the most entertaining players in the league, as well as one of the smallest. He was also born after Jagr was a Stanley Cup champion. Twice.
Born: July 14, 1993. The success of the Penguins in the early 1990s, including their Stanley Cup titles in 1991 and 1992, helped turn an entire generation of sports fans in the area onto the game of hockey and it has helped produce a number of NHL players over the years. Gibson, one of the brightest young goaltending stars in the NHL, is one of those players. He was born in Whitehall, Pennsylvania, in 1993 just after the Penguins won their first two Cup titles and a Presidents' Trophy in 1993. Jagr was a major part of all three teams.
5. Brandon Saad, Columbus Blue Jackets
Born: Oct. 27, 1992. Like Gibson, another Pittsburgh-area kid that was the product of the early 1990s Penguins and their success.
6. Evgeny Kuznetsov, Washington Capitals
Born: May 19, 1992. A late addition to this year's game after his teammate, Alex Ovechkin, had to back out, Kuznetsov was born on the same day Jagr was scoring a goal and adding two assists in a Wales Conference finals game against the Boston Bruins. That was part of an 11-game postseason winning streak for the Penguins that won them their second Stanley Cup title.
7. Justin Faulk, Carolina Hurricanes
Born: March 20, 1992. Faulk is one of the up-and-coming stars on defense in the NHL. A 19-year-old Jagr already had 57 goals in the NHL when Faulk was born.
Born: Jan. 31, 1992: Along with Ekblad, Seguin is one of the two players on this list that Jagr has called a teammate in the NHL during his time with the Boston Bruins during the 2012-13 season. Jagr assisted on one Seguin goal that season. When Segin was born, Jagr was in the middle of serving a 10-game suspension for skating into referee Ron Hoggarth.
9. Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis Blues
Born: Dec. 13, 1991: Jagr was in the middle of the 1991-92 season when Tarasenko, one of the NHL's best current goal scorers, was born. That was the season Jagr played in his very first NHL All-Star Game.
10. Taylor Hall, Edmonton Oilers
Born: Nov. 14, 1991. One of only two No. 1 overall picks (Aaron Ekblad) on this list, Hall was born the day Jagr scored his 32nd career goal.
11. Matt Duchene, Colorado Avalanche
Born: Jan. 16, 1991: The only player on the list that was born during Jagr's rookie season. He was born two weeks before Jagr recorded his first career NHL hat trick.
