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Jagr isn’t thrilled with frequent linemate changes

JaromirJagr

Jaromir Jagr has been a go-to player for production in New Jersey this season, but he’s also been a go-to guy for candid quotes. His latest beef appears to be the Devils’ tendency to change up his linemates, as the Newark Star Ledger reports on Thursday.

“It keeps changing,” Jagr said. “You get new guys coming in and out. I don’t really like it but that’s the way it is.”

“This game is too quick to play with guys you don’t know about. Sometimes you have to do things when you don’t even see them. You have to have a sense that he should be there. The game is so quick. We’ll see what happens.”

By the Star Ledger’s count, Jagr, 41, has dealt with about six different configurations this season, and the latest is expected to be one fairly common partner (Travis Zajac) and an AHL call-up in Joe Whitney.

At 5-foot-6, Whitney has likely overcome some hurdles in getting high-level hockey opportunities, yet now he finds himself skating alongside the NHL’s seventh all-time leading scorer in Jagr.

Whitney, 25, has been productive at the AHL level, including 36 points in 40 games with the Albany Devils this season. For even more on the small scorer, click here.

Devils head coach Peter DeBoer thinks that the under-sized forward could bring “a little energy” to a Jagr - Zajac pairing that’s had its struggles, but Jagr simply remarked that “it’s tough to say.”

It’s also tough to say how long this constellation might last, but the Devils will get a taste of it against the Washington Capitals on Friday.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins