NHL

Rangers trade Dorsett to Vancouver for 3rd-round pick

The cap squeeze under which the Rangers will operate this summer and next season — and that was exacerbated when the 2014-15 upper limit was set at $69 million, approximately $2 million under the initial winter estimate — has claimed Derek Dorsett as its first victim, with others sure to follow when the free agent market opens on Tuesday.

The Blueshirts, for whom every penny counts, dealt fourth-line winger Dorsett and his $1.633 million cap hit to the Canucks on Friday in exchange for the 85th-overall selection in the Entry Draft that began in Philadelphia on Friday night with the first round and will continue at the Flyers’ home rink with Rounds 2 through 7 beginning at 10 am Saturday.

The move opens the door for impending free agent Daniel Carcillo, who had split much of the second half of the season with Dorsett as the fourth-line enforcer on the right side, to return to the Blueshirts. Carcillo is likely to sign a deal in the $750-800,000 range, thus saving $800-900,000 in cap space.

The Rangers have just over $24 million of cap space with which to complete a roster that currently contains two goaltenders, four defensemen, two centers (including J.T. Miller) and three wingers.

The Blueshirts seem resigned to the fact Anton Stralman, Benoit Pouliot and Brian Boyle will attract better offers on the market than management is either willing or able to extend to their own unrestricted free agents. Dominic Moore’s future on Broadway seems iffy as well.

That third-round pick originally belonged to the Ducks but had been acquired by Vancouver earlier in the day as part of the deal in which Ryan Kesler went to Anaheim in exchange for Nick Bonino, Luca Sbisa and the 24th-overall selection in the draft.

The Rangers, who did not have a first-rounder after sending it to Tampa Bay in the deal for Martin St. Louis in March, now own the 59th, 85th, 89th, 119th and 122nd selections in the draft.

Nevertheless, though the Blueshirts can most certainly use the pick, general manager Glen Sather’s primary motivation was to clear some space heading into free agency. Clubs can exceed the cap limit by 10-percent over the summer and through training camp but the Rangers are aiming to stay within the lines.

The 27-year-old Dorsett, whom the Rangers acquired at the 2013 deadline from Columbus with Derick Brassard and John Moore — both pending restricted free agents — in exchange for Marian Gaborik, recorded eight points (four goals, four assists) with 128 penalty minutes in 51 games last season. The winger led the Blueshirts with 10 fighting majors, eight more than any of his teammates.

Dorsett, a healthy scratch for Games 3 and 4 of the second-round series against Pittsburgh series, had one assist in the playoffs.