PHILADELPHIA — The Rangers won’t get busy at the Entry Draft until somewhere around 11 a.m. Saturday, when it will become their turn with the 29th selection of the second round and 59th pick overall in the sweepstakes that will begin with Round 1 on Friday night.
And the Blueshirts, who traded their first-round pick to Tampa Bay as part of the package that brought Martin St. Louis to New York, are not likely to be involved in a big-name swap-fest that could see Ryan Kesler and/or Jason Spezza on the move before the Panthers go on the clock for the first-overall pick slightly past 7 p.m.
While the Islanders hold the fifth pick and the Devils the 30th, the Eastern Conference champions will continue conducting their due diligence regarding the free-agent market that opens on Tuesday. Indications are it will be very pricey, indeed, for the Blueshirts to not only retain second-pair defenseman Anton Stralman, but second-line left wing Benoit Pouliot, as well.
Two days into the league’s free-agent interview period, it is believed that Pouliot, who has worked on five consecutive one-year contracts for five different teams after his initial three-year entry-level deal, will receive multiple offers for at least $9 million over three years — if not more.
It is unclear whether the Rangers will be willing to meet that price for the erratic but ultimately productive 6-foot-4, 205-pound winger who became an integral part of the club’s run the second half of the year and through the playoffs.
“Ben was amenable to staying in New York, and in fact we tried a number of times to get something done before the end of the season, but it didn’t work out, and then we put everything on hold for the playoffs,” Kent Hughes, Pouliot’s agent, told The Post by phone on Thursday night.
“Ben likes it in New York, he likes playing for [coach] Alain [Vigneault], but at this point we haven’t had any extensive conversations with the Rangers,” Hughes said. “I’m sure that we will over the next few days, Jeff [assistant GM Jeff Gorton] and I have exchanged messages, but I can’t tell you what will happen.
“It isn’t as if Ben now has the objective of getting to July 1 [free agency], but we have been approached by a substantial number of teams.”
Pouliot, who will turn 28 in late September, recorded 36 points (15 goals, 21 assists) in 80 games for the Rangers — and 10 points (5-5) in the playoffs — while working on a one-year deal worth $1.3 million.
The winger started slowly and was scratched twice within a three-game stretch in early December, but responded to Vigneault’s tough love and meshed perfectly with Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello when the coach constructed the line late that month.
A three-year, $9 million deal for Pouliot is a gamble. But with the Rangers’ hands tied in the free-agent marketplace by a lack of cap space, plus uncertainty (to be kind) over the readiness of any of their prospects in Hartford to assume a top-six role, walking away from Pouliot — and his chemistry with his linemates — might be the greater gamble.
“There are a number of ways to skin the cat with Ben on this deal,” Hughes said. “Long term, shorter term … he’s open to different approaches. He likes New York, obviously there was some success there, but I couldn’t predict how he might go.”
If the number spins out of control and Pouliot does in fact exit New York, the Blueshirts either would be hoping Jesper Fast could fill that hole or they would be able to sign a reclamation project off the free-agent market to a one-year, cap-friendly deal.
Dustin Penner, Devin Setoguchi or Dany Heatley, anyone?