The Rangers are continuing to work on closing a deal with Dan Girardi but a contract extension for the pending free agent defenseman is still not done.
“There is still some negotiating to do,” Don Meehan, one of Girardi’s representatives at Newport Sports, told The Post in a Thursday afternoon email.
“Working on it … working on it,” Girardi said after getting 22:59 of ice time in the Blueshirts’ 2-1 victory over the Blackhawks at the Garden. “Hopefully in the next few days we’ll try to bang something out here, but in the meantime I’ll just be all business and go about my job.”
The Rangers and Girardi have been believed close to an agreement for a couple of weeks but talks seem to have hit a recent roadblock, even as the Blueshirts have moved toward the veteran’s asking price.
The first-pair right defenseman, who will turn 30 on April 29 and has played the seventh-most minutes in the NHL since the start of the 2009-10 season, is believed to have been seeking a six-year deal worth approximately $5.5 million per season.
That’s a deal Rangers’ general manager Glen Sather should have leaped at when the negotiations started in late November/early December, given the far more pedestrian James Wisniewski was able to attract that very six-year deal worth $33 million from the Blue Jackets in the summer of 2011.
Months later, though, Girardi remains unaccounted for beyond this season. If the Rangers can’t complete a deal with No. 5 within the next day or two, Sather is expected to aggressively shop the defenseman in advance of Wednesday’s 3 p.m. deadline.
Ryan Callahan, who remains at an impasse with Sather and is expected to be traded, played 18:23. The captain, who did not make himself available to the press, had said on Wednesday he would no longer address trade or contract scenarios.
“Those guys have done a real good job of keeping those moments they have with their environment away from the rink, they come to play, they come to practice hard,” coach Alain Vigneault said, referring to Girardi and Callahan. “They’ve done a real good job. They’re New York Rangers, and I’m hoping they’re going to stay New York Rangers.”
Sather, meanwhile, has checked on the availability of Canucks’ center Ryan Kesler. Two sources with knowledge of the relationship between Kesler and Vigneault, his coach for seven seasons in Vancouver, told The Post there were no substantial or outstanding issues between the men despite reports of a rift.
Kesler has a full no-trade clause but may be seeking an exit out of Vancouver. It is believed the Canucks are asking for a roster player, likely Derek Stepan, a prospect and a draft pick in exchange for the 29-year-old center who has two seasons at $5 million per season left on his contract.
The Rangers-Red Wings match at the Garden on March 9 has been moved to a 12:30 p.m. faceoff from its scheduled 7:30 p.m. start time.
Derek Dorsett, who missed the club’s final 17 games before the break with a fractured left leg he sustained blocking an Olli Maatta shot in Pittsburgh on Jan. 3, was a healthy scratch.
Marc Staal, who had been bothered by back spasms earlier in the week, played 20:38.
“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” he said.