When the NHL announced the ratification of its new collective bargaining agreement on Friday, it was immediately clear that the new fiscal landscape might mean that the world’s greatest hockey league would suddenly have serious competition from European teams for the best players.

Unfortunately for the Rangers, they might well be the first victims. According to a report on ESPN.com yesterday, forward Jaromir Jagr, who has been critical of the new CBA, may decide to play in Russia when play resumes.

Half of Jagr’s $7.8 million NHL contract is to be absorbed by the Washington Capitals (both economically and against the salary cap), so he would actually have been a tremendous bargain for the Rangers. However, earning that money in New York City carries with it some very hefty income tax obligations.

In sharp contrast, Russian club Avangard Omsk paid Jagr millions – all tax-free – to play for half of the 2004-05 season. Considering that Jagr will take home about $4.5 million after taxes if he remains in the NHL, it stands to reason that billionaire Omsk owner Roman Abramovich (also the owner of English soccer club Chelsea) can offer the enigmatic Czech a comparable – if not superior – compensation package.

The NHL’s new transfer agreement with the International Ice Hockey Federation reportedly allows NHL teams to sign any European prospects, even if they are under contract with their European teams. For this reason, it appears that the Rangers would have little recourse if Jagr decided to sign with Omsk, assuming that quid pro quo is in fact the status quo.

Jagr re-established himself as both a team leader and an offensive superstar with Omsk last season, tallying 16 goals and 22 assists in 32 regular-season games before leading the team to the playoff semifinals. He followed that with a vintage performance for the Czechs in the 2005 World Championships, helping them to an upset victory over Canada for the gold medal.

“It’s complicated. I want to hear the opinions of both clubs. It should be solved within three weeks,” Jagr told the daily Mlada Fronta Dnes. “My heart is pulling me toward Omsk, but reason is making me lean toward [New York] … I really liked it in both places.”

It would seem that the most compelling argument on the Rangers’ side would be Jagr’s legacy. The 33-year-old has scored 1,309 points in 1,027 NHL games (26th all-time), and three good seasons in an offense-first NHL might be enough to propel him onto the list of the NHL’s top 10 all-time scorers. He’s not likely to surpass Wayne Gretzky, but six good seasons could vault him past Mark Messier into second all-time.

The loss of Jagr would appear on the surface to be an unmitigated catastrophe. If the Rangers buy out the contracts of Bobby Holik and Darius Kasparaitis this week – as they are expected to do – Jagr would be one of only four players under contract. Needless to say, the trifecta of Michael Nylander, Dale Purinton, and Jason Strudwick will not strike fear into the hearts of the Rangers’ rivals.

Colorado’s Peter Forsberg, Vancouver’s Markus Naslund, the Devils’ Scott Niedermayer, and Tampa Bay’s Nikolai Khabibulin are available for the highest bidder this summer, and GM Glen Sather could respond to Jagr’s departure by pursuing one (or all) of those high-profile free agents.

However, such a maneuver would fly in the face of the team’s stated plan to begin a long-overdue rebuilding period. Should Jagr indeed fly the coop, would Sather have the audacity to ice one of the league’s most inexpensive rosters? For the sake of New York’s long-suffering hockey fans, that would be the best decision.

Rebuilding with grizzled veterans is a strategy that hasn’t worked well for the Rangers through the years. But as we saw in 1994 and with every Cup winner since, the addition of experienced veterans to a talent-laden, youthful roster is the proper formula for success.

Putting the team’s future in the inexperienced hands of Henrik Lundqvist and Fedor Tyutin will certainly bring with it some growing pains in the short-term, but those youngsters must be given the opportunity to develop into stars before the addition of complementary veterans would make any sense.

If Sather cannot resist the urge to make a big splash in the free agent market, he should wait until the summer of 2006, when Boston’s Joe Thornton, Tampa’s Vincent Lecavalier and Calgary’s Jarome Iginla will all become unrestricted free agents. For the Rangers, who don’t have a single impact forward in their farm system, that would be a solution worth saving for.

Mr. Greenstein is the editor-in-chief of InsideHockey.com.