There’s a simple explanation why Jaromir Jagr, who seems on the cusp of returning to the NHL after a three-year sabbatical in Russia, did not reach out to GM Glen Sather to find out whether the Rangers would be interested in a Broadway encore.
“I don’t want to put this the wrong way, but teams that want me and think I can help them have been calling me, and the Rangers never called, so I don’t think they would want me,” Jagr told The Post by phone last night from his home in the Czech Republic.
“I don’t want to be a guy who says, ‘Do you need me; do you want me?’ It’s not like I’m looking for a job,” said No. 68. “Teams know I’m serious about coming back. If Glen thought I could help, he would have told me.
“But I have no hard feelings. I loved my time in New York. I will never have a bad thing to say about the Rangers.”
PENGUINS, RED WINGS IN RUNNING
Jagr, who came to the Rangers from Washington on Jan. 23, 2004, left for Omsk of the KHL as a free agent following the 2007-08 season. Now, he is on the verge of returning, though the destination is unclear.
Detroit and Pittsburgh are among those clubs interested in bringing the winger back to North America. Jagr would not identity his suitors, but did tell The Post that, “I’m not talking to any rebuilding teams.”
“I haven’t made my decision yet,” Jagr said. “I hope I can make it pretty soon.”
Jagr, who will turn 40 next February, said that he only began to ponder a return to the NHL when agent Petr Svoboda suggested the possibility just before the World Championships during which the winger recorded nine points (5-4) in nine games for the Bronze Medalist Czechs.
“To be honest with you, I never thought teams would be interested in me, so I never thought about it until Petr asked me about it,” said Jagr. “I played well, the team played well and then after the tournament, rumors started about Montreal, and teams started to call.
“Really; I was surprised.”
Jagr has always cast a larger than life shadow over the franchise he represents. He put the Rangers on his back in September of 2005 and carried the team to the playoffs after a seven-year absence in establishing franchise single season records for goals (54) and points (123) during that transcendent year.
In addition to the question of how much, if at all, Jagr’s skills atrophied playing in the lesser KHL where the pace is considerably slower and the schedule is far less demanding, there is the question whether this legend could accept a subordinate role.
He laughed loudly when asked if he believes he could adjust to playing maybe 9:00 a night for, say, the Red Wings.
“Nine minutes? Do you think I’m that bad that I would play only nine minutes?” Jagr asked rhetorically. “I don’t think the coach [Mike Babcock] and the GM [Kenny Holland] would have called me if they think I could only play nine minutes.
“I’m not that bad.”