Penguins to retire Jaromir Jagr's No. 68 sweater in February

PITTSBURGH — Jaromir Jagr's familiar No. 68 is heading to the rafters at PPG Paints Arena.

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced on Friday they will retire Jagr's number before a visit from the Los Angeles Kings on Feb. 18.

Jagr spent the first 11 of his 24 seasons in the NHL in Pittsburgh, helping the Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 1991 and 1992.

Jagr collected 439 goals and 640 assists in 806 regular-season games with the Penguins from 1990 to 2001. He still remains in the top five in franchise history in games played (fifth), points (fourth), goals (fourth) and assists (fourth).

The Penguins traded Jagr to Washington before the 2001-02 season. Jagr played another 13 years after leaving Pittsburgh, hopscotching between eight teams, including the Capitals, the New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers.

Jagr stepped away from the NHL after playing 22 games for Calgary in the 2017-18 season.

The 51-year-old Jagr continued playing for the team he owns in his hometown of Kladno, Czech Republic, up until the end of the 2022-23 season.

In 1,733 career regular-season games, the six-foot-three, 230-pound winger scored 766 goals, 1,155 assists and 1,921 points. He ranks fourth all-time in games played and goals, fifth in assists, and only Wayne Gretzky (2,857) has recorded more points than him.

Selected fifth overall by Pittsburgh in the 1990 NHL Draft, Jagr spent the first 11 seasons of his 24-year NHL career with the Penguins.

Only Chris Chelios (26), Gordie Howe (26) and Mark Messier (25) have played more seasons in the NHL than Jagr’s 24. He last played in the NHL at age 45 with the Calgary Flames in 2017-18.

He is a five-time Art Ross Trophy winner as the top scorer in the NHL and won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP in 1998-99.

The Czechia native currently owns and plays for Rytiri Kladno of the Czech Extraliga.

--with files from Sportsnet staff