New Jersey Devils forward Jaromir Jagr has a simple philosophy about the NHL Trade Deadline, which is 3 p.m. ET on March 2.
Whatever will be, will be. Jagr's focus will remain squarely on playing hockey.
"I don't pay attention to the deadline. I'm a professional. I just work even harder than I did before," Jagr said Monday, according to NJ Advance Media. "If I stay here, I stay here. If I don't, I still have to be ready. If somebody trades for me they'll expect me to be good. And if I stay here I have to be good. So I have to work harder than ever to make sure I'm good."
SOG: 106 | +/-: -10
Jagr still could help a contender for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the Devils enter the week 12 points behind the Boston Bruins for the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot. But Jagr said he isn't about to go asking for a trade.
"I feel I don't have to ask. If it is good for the team, I'm gone," Jagr told N.J. Advance Media. "If they feel like they've got a good offer, they'll trade me. I don't have to ask.
"Do we still have a chance [at making the playoffs]? I don't know. Regardless, it's out of my control."
Jagr won the Stanley Cup in back-to-back seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991 and 1992, his first two NHL seasons, and got back to the Final in 2013 with the Boston Bruins. He has missed the playoffs only three times in his NHL career: 2001-02, his first season with the Washington Capitals; 2003-04, when he was traded midway through the season from the Capitals to the New York Rangers; and 2013-14, his first season with the Devils.
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