With Jaromir Jagr turning 45 on Wednesday, we take a look at where the third-leading goal scorer in NHL history might end up should he stay in the league for a few more years.
Jagr has 759 goals, averaging 33 a season over the course of his NHL career (through his 10 goals this season). Depending on how many more goals Jagr scores this season, he could reach 800 either late in the 2017-18 season or early in 2018-19.
Gordie Howe is second on the goals list with 801, and after that it’s Wayne Gretzky with 894. Jagr would probably have to play at least three seasons after reaching 800 to catch Gretzky. That would make Jagr at least 49.
Early in his career, Jagr was a much more prolific scorer. He had 439 goals through his first 11 seasons, an average of nearly 40 a season. He hasn't had as many as 30 goals, however, since 2006-07.
If Jagr has more seasons like 2016-17 (he is on pace for 15 goals), then it would take him about three more seasons (until 2019-20) to reach 800, making him around 48 years old when reaching that milestone.
The Czech-born Jagr played three seasons (from 2008-09 to 2010-11) in the Kontinental Hockey League. Based on his NHL goal-scoring rate at that time of his career, Jagr missed out on a total of approximately 75 NHL goals in those three seasons.
Jagr has played 337 games and has scored 94 goals in his age-40 season and beyond. That’s 12 percent of his total goals. How does that stack up against other athletes who performed at a high level at that age?
Accomplishments from age-40 season and beyond
MLB
Most HR: Carlton Fisk, 72 (19 percent of his 376)
Most hits: Pete Rose, 699 (16 percent of his 4,256)
Most strikeouts: Nolan Ryan 1,437 (25 percent of his 5,714 total). Also: Phil Niekro (1,148, 34 percent of his 3,342) and Randy Johnson (1,004, 21 percent of his 4,875)
Most wins: Niekro, 121 (38 percent of his 318)
NBA
Most points: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1,913 (5 percent of his 38,387)
NFL
Most passing yards: Warren Moon, 7,148 (14 percent of his 49,325)
Most passing touchdowns: Moon and Brett Favre, 44 each (Moon: 15 percent of his 291; Favre: 9 percent of his 508)
Most total touchdowns: Jerry Rice, 12 (6 percent of his 208)
Fifth player 45 or older
Jagr will become the third skater to compete in an NHL game at 45 years old or older, joining Hall of Famers Gordie Howe and Chris Chelios. Goaltenders Moe Roberts and Johnny Bower each played in one game at that age.
Jagr’s NHL debut was on Oct. 5, 1990, when he was 18, and he recorded his first point -- a goal -- two days later.
With an NHL-record 134 career game-winning goals, Jagr has 16 more than any other player. He also ranks in the top five all-time in games played, goals, assists and points.
Six players who made their NHL debuts after Jagr (Pavel Bure, Peter Forsberg, Nicklas Lidstrom, Eric Lindros, Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger) already have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Two more Hall of Famers (Sergei Fedorov and Mats Sundin) made their NHL debuts one day before Jagr.