NHL

Drury gets Rangers rookie in ‘Step’

On the first day of Rangers training camp, American-born rookie center Derek Stepan was approached immediately by American-born veteran center and captain Chris Drury.

“He gave me his phone number and told me if I needed anything to let him know,” Stepan told The Post late last week. “It was kind of neat, to have Chris Drury come over and do that.”

“Just so you know, it’s not like I only do that for Americans,” Drury later told The Post. “Last year I did the same thing with DZ [Canadian Michael Del Zotto], so it’s not that he’s from the U.S., it’s that he’s a young guy on our team.”

Point taken. But despite living in hockey’s melting pot culture and being nearly 14 years apart in age, there is a connection between the Yanks, each of whom played college hockey, each of whom has represented the U.S. in international competition and both of whom will be wearing Blueshirts tomorrow night when the Lightning come to the Garden.

“I follow college hockey and international tournaments, so I definitely knew about Step long before he came to camp,” Drury, the former BU Terrier, said of Stepan, the former Wisconsin Badger. “The only things I heard about him were good things, and it’s obvious why after you spend time with him.

“The first thing you notice is his maturity in so many different ways, on and off the ice, the way he reacts and responds to different situations. Nothing seems to faze him. He approaches the game like a pro, and he wants to learn.

“I try to help him with the system, tell him what Torts [coach John Tortorella] expects and try and help him down the path that way,” the captain said. “But I don’t think he misses too much on his own.”

Stepan’s maturity level has been obvious since that first day of camp. The Rangers’ belief in Stepan has been obvious since the first week of camp, when Tortorella gave him the assignment to play on the first line.

There have been a few rookie missteps, but not many for Stepan, who is tied for third on the club with 19 points (9-10) and who will skate between Marian Gaborik and Brandon Dubinsky tomorrow night.

“The big part for me with young kids is the mental part,” Tortorella said. “But Step is a talented player, a talented player, and sometimes that gets lost with all the talk about his maturity.”

As Drury had prior knowledge of Stepan, the 20-year-old rookie was well aware of the veteran.

“I can’t say that I had a poster of Chris up on my bedroom wall when I was growing up, but I certainly followed him and I tried to watch him,” said Stepan, who captained Team USA to the World Junior championship just 11 months ago. “And then I come in and there he is as a teammate, and it’s almost impossible not to look up to him.

“He’s a great locker room guy. When you need a wake-up call, he’s the first guy to let you know, and he does it in a positive way. At the same time, he’s the first guy to pat you on the back and let you know what you’re doing well.

“And he plays so hard all the time. I watch him from the bench and see what elements I can bring to my game,” Stepan said. “I try to learn from everybody, but I pay special attention to Chris.”

larry.brooks@nypost.com