Amid rumors that veteran forward Jaromir Jagr wanted the New Jersey Devils to trade him to an Eastern Conference contender, the Czech superstar said he will not be asking the team to deal him.
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Jagr said that he will not try to sway the Devils into dealing him prior to the March 2 NHL trade deadline that is rapidly approaching.
"I didn't ask for [a] trade; I'm not going to," Jagr said following practice at Prudential Center on Wednesday, according to NHL.com. "I don't know what's going to happen. I'm pretty blessed and everything that happened to me always has been for good, so why shouldn't I believe in that now? Either way if I like it or not, I know in the long run it's going to be the best for me."
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The speculation comes in the wake of an ESPN report that Jagr's agent Petr Svoboda met with Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello in Montreal on Saturday to check on New Jersey's immediate plans with Jagr.
Per that report, Lamoriello told Svoboda that he didn't plan on moving Jagr because the Devils are in the midst of a playoff push.
New Jersey has lost two straight games -- to the Montreal Canadiens and lowly Edmonton Oilers -- since that meeting and enters Thursday with a 21-24-9 record (54 points).
The Devils are 12 points out of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, which is currently held by the Boston Bruins (63 points) with four teams to jump.
Jagr denied the report from ESPN about the meeting and the rumors that he wants to be traded to an Eastern Conference contender.
"I didn't read it. I didn't talk to anybody," Jagr said. "I didn't even talk to anybody after the game the last two weeks. I didn't talk to media for the last two weeks. I have no idea. If they talked to my agent they should say my agent said that, if they said that. I didn't talk to anybody. I don't know have anybody's phone number. I've been in this situation. The media can write anything they want."
After leading the Devils with 67 points in 82 games last season in his first campaign in New Jersey, Jagr paces the team with 29 points (11 goals, 18 assists) through 50 games this season.
Jagr, 43, is only under contract through this season, so if he is dealt a team runs the risk of only renting him.
The Devils have 28 games remaining to make a playoff push, including nine contests before the NHL trade deadline.
It appears, at least for now, that Jagr will ride this season out with them as the team looks to avoid a third straight campaign without a playoff appearance.
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