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This skinny Chris Kreider is even more indispensable to Rangers

Regarding the Rangers, into Philadelphia on Thursday with a 5-3-2 post-deadline record that includes one victory (over the Penguins) against a playoff-position team.

1. A lean and mean machine, that’s the new and improved Chris Kreider, who is at least a step faster after having dropped about 15 pounds in the aftermath of his rib resection. Kreider, who had been playing at 235 pounds, intends to maintain his physique going forward.

“What I’ve learned is that by getting to the puck even a millisecond sooner, you have such an advantage in battles because you have the leverage,” Kreider told The Post. “I don’t think I’m giving up anything in my ability to be physical, either. So this is a good weight for me. I’m not looking to put it back on in my offseason training.”





Kreider has recorded seven points (2-5) in the past three games and 11 (3-8) in 12 matches since returning Feb. 23 from his nearly two-month absence. He has been a force bearing down on defensemen, his uncommon speed equally as intimidating as his size, while combining with Mika Zibanejad to form a dangerous, legitimate first-line combination.

“It would help if I could put the puck in the ocean, though,” he said.

Kreider has gotten his attempts through 83.5 percent of the time, which is more than any other 2017-18 Rangers top-nine forward other than Rick Nash’s 84.0 before he was traded. But Kreider only hits the net on 69.5 percent of his unblocked attempts, which represents the club’s poorest rate (stats courtesy of naturalstattrick.com).

As general manager Jeff Gorton ponders reconfiguration for 2018-19 (and beyond), the Rangers appear to have organizational depth in the middle, at left defense and in goal. The right side of defense lacks a righty capable of first-pair matchup minutes and there appears a dearth of scoring punch on the wing.





This is why Kreider, who has scored 14 goals in 49 games, will enter the offseason as one of the club’s least expendable assets.

2. It is not set in stone, but Ryan Lindgren, the University of Minnesota sophomore defenseman whose rights the Rangers obtained from the Bruins in the Nash deal, is leaning toward leaving school and turning pro, sources have confirmed.

If Lindgren does sign, he would report immediately to AHL Hartford and presumably finish the season with the Wolf Pack, who have 10 games remaining.

The 20-year-old Minneapolis native, who has played for Team USA in the last two World Junior tournaments, is a candidate to play in this year’s World Championships.





3. Brendan Smith’s miserable season has ended in almost predictably miserable fashion, The Post has learned.

The defenseman, who was assigned to the Wolf Pack after clearing waivers Feb. 9 in the midst of the first season of his four-year, $17.4 million deal, suffered a broken hand in a fight at practice this past Sunday with Vinni Lettieri.

According to capfriendly.com, a buyout of Smith would come at the cost of $1,091,667 in dead-cap space each of the next two seasons, $3,266,667 in 2020-21 and $1,266,667 for each of the three seasons following that. If he is unable to make the Rangers and winds up in Hartford again, his cap charge would amount to $3.325 million next season and $3.275 million the two years after that.





Kind of a pick-your-poison scenario.

4. Henrik Lundqvist, who did not practice Wednesday with what coach Alain Vigneault described as “overall body soreness,” in the wake of his third-period collision with Matt Calvert on Wednesday, will not dress against the Flyers. Alexandar Georgiev will get the start while Ondrej Pavelec, sidelined since suffering a knee injury in the first period of the Feb. 9 match against Calgary, will serve as backup.

Lundqvist is 4-13-2 with a 3.79 goal-against average and .897 save percentage since Jan. 20, with one win in relief and his past two victories coming in consecutive 50-save performances in Vancouver and Calgary on Feb. 28 and Mar. 2, respectively.

5. Vigneault said he plans to move Ryan Spooner, who has vanished the past three games, off the wing into the middle. He will switch with Vlad Namestnikov, who has recorded one point (a goal) in nine games following his two-point Blueshirts debut in Vancouver.

6. As suspected, the Rangers did not promote Lias Andersson from the Wolf Pack for Thursday’s game. The intent apparently is to summon both Andersson and Filip Chytil for Monday night’s Garden match against the Caps and have them each play the final seven games.

7. Kevin Shattenkirk, shut down last week by the medical staff after his knee had swelled, practiced Wednesday, and said, barring a recurrence, he intends to “ramp it up” with the objective of returning before the season concludes.





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