NHL

A-VERY GOOD RANGER

NOW that the Rangers and Henrik Lundqvist are down to the shortest of strokes in finalizing a contract that is believed to be in the six-year, $36M neighborhood, Glen Sather must next find the way to negotiate an extension with Sean Avery, and sooner rather than later.

“I talked to Sean last week about his contract, and he was down about the way he was playing,” Sather told The Post on Sunday. “He said he didn’t think anyone would want to sign him.

“I told him that I did.”

But we bet Sather didn’t say for how much, and if he did, that it wasn’t enough for Avery – who is believed considering representing himself in continuation of what’s becoming a very foolish trend among NHL players.

Something is going on with Avery, who has not spoken to the press since last Tuesday morning. He did not talk after what must have been a mortifying game for him that night against the Kings, his worst as a Ranger. He did not talk after the following day’s fight with Marek Malik. Teammates have said that he’s been uncharacteristically quiet.

And what’s going on with Avery can likely be traced back to his impending free agency and the perception in his own mind that he’s no longer a favorite son.

Let’s make no mistake. Avery is not having the kind of walk season he envisioned. He’s been on injured reserve three times. He’s playing with a bad wrist that will require surgery over the summer. He’s been largely subdued on the ice since called into Vice Principal Colin Campbell’s office on Nov. 12.

He doesn’t have the leverage with Sather that he anticipated. He doesn’t have Tom Renney and his teammates wrapping their figurative arms around him the way they did last season.

Avery needs to feel appreciated – don’t we all? – and if he’s going to be an important Ranger the rest of the way, he needs to know that he has a home here.

And guess what? If the Rangers are going to be more bite than bark, the need is mutual, for Avery is a unique presence on the team. Even hurting, he immediately responded with his fists when Scott Walker slammed Scott Gomez into the wall from behind in Carolina on Jan. 29.

Maybe it’s because Sather sees a lot of himself in Avery that the GM has seemed pre-disposed to fight with Broadway Sean. And maybe now Sather sees the ability to go in for the kill, sensing the winger’s vulnerability. That would be a mistake.

The idea is to build up Avery, not tear him down. The idea is to give Avery a reasonable sense of security. Sather never once tried to play tough with Lundqvist, not over the summer, not over the last month of negotiating. It would be counter-productive to do so with Avery.

Last Tuesday morning Avery told me he would be willing to sign a one-year extension with the Rangers as a bridge deal into next season. Failure to do so will be a lose-lose; a loss for the Rangers, a loss for Avery, who was born to play in New York.

The Rangers, by the way, can’t afford too many more losses.

larry.brooks@nypost.com