With the free-agent market set to open at noon tomorrow, Jaromir Jagr, an enigmatic Czech superstar, said he wants to play in the NHL for two more years, but remains unsure whether that will be with the New York Rangers, which increasingly seems unlikely.

If no other NHL team steps up, playing in Russia remains an option.

"I would be happy if it was a clear sky, but nothing is clear. I do not know where I will play next season. One day it looks like America, the second day back to Europe," Jagr, 36, said, according to two translations of a revealing interview with reporters in the Czech Republic. "I'm waiting for a signal."

Until tomorrow, only the Rangers can negotiate with Jagr, an unrestricted free agent, and a one-year, $6-million offer is believed to be on the table. The future Hall of Famer who has 646 goals and 1,599 points conceded that money "was important to him," that perhaps the Rangers haven't wooed him enough and that the team was being rebuilt around centers Scott Gomez and Chris Drury.

"I have come to realize that I play my best hockey when I'm under pressure," said Jagr, captain of the Rangers who had 71 points last season but was a force in the playoffs. "When a team relies upon me and expectations are high. I'd like to sign with a club where I'd be given this type of reliance, where I'd be told 'This is your team.' "

Jagr, who said he will be back in New York by today, confirmed that he received an offer from Rangers president and general manager Glen Sather, "but if he wants a player to be happy ... he should take that first step."

Jagr conceded that the level of interest from the Rangers was difficult to determine. " ... now that I've waited so long, why not listen to the alternative offers? So far, we've only been talking to New York and [the Russian team] Omsk."

Ducks

Defenseman Scott Niedermayer met with general manager Brian Burke and confirmed he will fulfill the final year of his contract (at a cap hit of $6.75 million), preventing a repeat of a scenario last year that had Niedermayer "retired" for more than half of 2007-08.

Even with Niedermayer back, the Ducks will be under the new cap figure ($56.7 million), but it's all but a lock that Mathieu Schneider (due $5.75 million on the final year of his deal) will not be back on the Anaheim defense. The average pay for the trio of Chris Pronger, Niedermayer, and Schneider: $6.25 million.

Stars

Co-general manager Les Jackson isn't foreseeing a free-agency shopping spree. He has his eye on the upcoming free-agency period, but he also was looking at everything he and Brett Hull have done with the Stars to this point. They signed center Mike Ribeiro to a five-year deal and acquired more offensive power in Brad Richards. Basically, the Stars did their wheeling and dealing during the regular season.

"We put our shopping list in early," Jackson said.