NHL

Rangers waiting to move on Staal, Stralman

The Rangers are making plans to borrow close to an additional $3.975 million of cap space by placing Marc Staal on NHL long-term injury exemption in conjunction with personnel moves that will bring the club as close as possible to the cap before taking the step on the alternate captain, sources have told The Post.

It’s believed once the Rangers make the necessary moves to come as close to possible to the cap — including the potential recall of Mats Zuccarello from the AHL Whale in the aftermath of the groin injury suffered by Wojtek Wolski in the first period of last night’s 2-1 shootout victory over the Ducks — they will then sign and register the contract of free-agent defenseman Anton Stralman, who has agreed to terms on a one-year deal worth $900,000.

Staal has been plagued by intermittent headaches since at least September in the aftermath of the concussion he sustained in Carolina on Feb. 22. His status, according to coach John Tortorella, remains unchanged, and he already qualifies for LTI by having been sidelined for at least 10 games and 24 days

But because teams only gain the difference between a player’s cap hit and the amount of cap space available at the time the athlete goes on LTI, the Rangers have yet to make the move with Staal because they haven’t been close enough to the ceiling.

The recall of Sean Avery, a healthy scratch last night, has created a scenario under which another maneuver would bring the Rangers into proximity of the $64.3 million ceiling.