Not Jaromir Jagr, not quite and at least not yet, but the Rangers did add a winger to the mix yesterday with the signing of former Islander Andreas Johansson.
Sources told The Post that the 28-year-old, 6-2, 200-pounder selected from the Senators by Glen Sather in last year’s waiver draft, agreed to a one-year deal in the neighborhood of $700,000. Johansson, who scored 21 goals for Ottawa in 1998-99, played in Europe last season. He scored the winning goal for Sweden against Team USA in last month’s World Championships.
Meanwhile, having passed through waivers, Guy Hebert has been given permission by the Rangers to seek employment elsewhere. When, as is certain, the 34-year-old goaltender is bought out for two-thirds of the $3.8M he has on his contract for next season, that $2.533M obligation will be assumed by the Mighty Ducks under terms of the deal that brought Hebert to Broadway last February.
At the same time, Penguins GM Craig Patrick is just now beginning to work seriously on finding a trading partner for Jagr, coming off his fourth straight Art Ross-winning season. Jagr, who has two years at $20.7M remaining on his contract, has told friends that he hopes to be traded to the Rangers. The Penguins are known to covet defenseman Tomas Kloucek.