The first of a four-part series

The Rangers may be an NHL Original Six team, but they are a New York Original Three — dating further back than any of our pro sports franchises other than the Yankees and Football Giants.

In this, the Blueshirts’ 90th anniversary season, The Post selects the top 90 players in franchise history in a series that will culminate Wednesday with the naming of the greatest Ranger of all time — 90 years to the day since the team’s inaugural game, a 1-0 victory over the Montreal Maroons at the old Garden on Nov. 16, 1926.

This ranking gives great weight to the players who contributed to the franchise’s four Stanley Cup championships of 1928, 1933, 1940 and 1994. When there are just four, they acquire added significance. And when there is only one in the past 76 years (and 75 seasons), that takes on additional cachet. Indeed, the greatest challenge in devising this list was determining the weight of 1994 that ended the wait of 54 years.

Ninety for Ninety will present Rangers 90-61 today; Rangers 60-31 on Monday; Rangers 30-16 on Tuesday; and, Rangers 15-1 on Wednesday.

The countdown begins:

90. Tony Leswick: Winger was the club’s original pest, a Sean Avery without the running commentary, in the late 1940s and early ’50s. Scored 98 goals in six years for the Blueshirts. Played in four straight All-Star Games and was named to NHL second All-Star team in 1949-50.

89. Dale Rolfe: Blue line pillar of the early ’70s would and probably could rate significantly higher but for the fact he is best remembered for two of the most dispiriting moments in franchise history: A) taking the shot that broke Jean Ratelle’s ankle in 1972; and B) taking the beating from Dave Schultz in 1974.

88. Bruce MacGregor: Wee Bruce, a staple on the right on the line with Pete Stemkowski in the middle and Ted Irvine on the left through the mini-golden era of the early ’70s. Memorably victimized by Bobby Orr’s unworldly spin move at the right point for the first goal in Boston’s 1972 Game 6, 3-0 clincher at the Garden, but who wouldn’t have been?

87. Arnie Brown: Part of the new wave of the ’60s, a constant on defense after arriving from Toronto with Bob Nevin, Rod Seiling and Dick Duff in the February 1964 deal in which Andy Bathgate (and Don McKenny) went to the Maple Leafs.

86. Dave Balon: A two-time Ranger, sent to Montreal in the 1963 Gump Worsley-Jacques Plante deal, reacquired in time to become the original left wing on the Bulldog Line with Walter Tkaczuk and Billy Fairbairn. Scored 33 goals in 1969-70 and 36 in 1970-71 before traded to Vancouver as part of Emile Francis’ two day, three-team machinations to acquire Gene Carr and Gary “Okie-Doakie” Doak. To wit: Balon, Jack Egers, Mike Murphy, Moose Dupont Ron Stewart for Carr, Jim Lorentz, Doak, Jim Wiste. Everyone loved Carr but The Cat would’ve been better off standing pat.

85. Alf Pike: Coached a pair of the most dreadful teams in franchise history (most of 1959-60 and the entire 1960-61 season) but that does not tarnish his work as a key player up front for the 1940 Cup champions and 1941-42 regular season champions. Nicknamed “The Embalmer” for his offseason job as a mortician, most decidedly not the reason Dylan McIlrath was once known as “The Undertaker.”

84. John Ogrodnick: High-scoring winger in the ’80s and early ’90s who recorded 43 goals in 1989-90 and 126 in 336 games wearing the Blueshirt.

83. Earl Ingarfield: A staple in the middle for the Rangers of the late ’50s through mid ’60s, centered wingers Andy Bathgate and Dean Prentice at the height of his powers.

82. Ott Heller: Played his entire 15-year-career on the Blueshirts’ backline from 1931-46, a member of both the ’33 and ’40 Cup champions. Captain for three seasons.

81. Pierre Larouche: Scored 48 goals in 1983-84, then the second-highest total in Rangers history and now fifth-most. Somehow exiled to the AHL Hershey Bears at the start of 1985-86 by GM Craig Patrick (and by a coach, Ted Sator, who was disapproving of his offense-first game), Larouche would return to Broadway to score 20 goals in 28 games then record eight goals in 16 playoff games in the Rangers’ unexpected run to the Eastern finals. Finished with 0.49 goals per game for New York (123 goals in 253 games), the second highest mark in franchise history among players with at least 100 goals.

80. Wally Hergesheimer: Led the Rangers in goal-scoring three-years running, the right winger recording 26, 30 and 27, respectively, from 1952-53 through 1954-55.

79. Edgar Laprade: Speedy, finesse-oriented center who won the 1945-46 Calder Trophy and the 1949-50 Lady Byng to highlight a 10-year career spent entirely on Broadway.

78. Tom Laidlaw: Reliable defenseman who played 510 games on the New York blue line through much of the ’80s and was a staple for Herb Brooks.

77. Buddy O’Connor: The first of four Rangers to win the Hart Trophy, this center, who began his career with the Canadiens, was voted league MVP while also winning the Lady Byng for his 24-goal, 60-point, 1947-48 season.

76. Jan Erixon: One of the finest, if not the finest, checking specialist the Rangers ever have had up front. “The Shadow” spent his entire 10-year career with the club, retiring after the 1992-93 season.

75. Petr Nedved: How damning and how faint the praise to nominate the classy centerman of the Czechmates (Jan Hlavac on the left, Radek Dvorak on the right) as the best Ranger forward of the 1997-04 Dark Ages? Recorded 149 goals and 351 points in 478 games. The memory lingers of a completely out-of-place Nedved on the ice for the 1995 Cup banner-raising ceremony at the Garden after he’d been awarded to the team from St. Louis as compensation for the hiring of Mike Keenan.

74. Sergei Nemchinov: Classy forward who could do it all for the ’94 Cup champions.

73. John Davidson: Didn’t have the longevity or consistency of the franchise’s elite netminders, but there are only two words for his performance in the 1979 playoffs through which he carried the Blueshirts to the Cup final: “Oh Baby.”

72. Ted Irvine: Big, bruising left wing who rode shotgun with Stemkowski and MacGregor through Emile’s glory years after coming from the Kings in late ’69-70 for Juha Widing and Real Lemieux in one of the Cat’s better deals.

71. Rod Seiling: The phrase “much maligned” was invented for this No. 16, part of the package in return for Bathgate in 1964, who drew derision for his lack of physicality but was a staple on the back end for the ascendant Rangers of the ’60s and early ’70s. Fact you may not know: He was a member of Team Canada for the 1972 Summit Series. So how awful could he have been?

70. Donnie Marshall: A pro’s pro on left wing who came to New York as part of the Worsley-Plante deal and brought championship pedigree to the club in the early ’60s while contributing 129 goals and 270 points through 1969-70.

69. Pat Hickey: The left wing for Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson when the Swedes came to Broadway in 1978-79. Explosive and flashy, scored 128 goals in 370 games on Broadway, including 40 in 1977-78. Returned for a cameo after being sacrificed as part of the package that went to Colorado for Barry Beck.

68. Derek Stepan: A work in progress. The 1A/1B center for three Eastern Conference finalists, one Cup finalist and one Presidents’ Trophy winning club.

67. Rick Nash: Has been the Rangers’ best forward and one of the league’s most efficient goal-scorers since arriving from Columbus for the 2012-13 season. Consistently the most diligent back-checker on the club. Ninth in franchise history with 0.42 goals per for those scoring at least 100.

66. Marian Gaborik: A shooting star and one of Glen Sather’s best free agent signings as GM, the sniper spent fewer than four full seasons on Broadway but twice scored at least 40 (42, 41) during his tenure. Run out of town by John Tortorella, Gaborik is one of just three Rangers ever to reach the 40-circle more than once. Fifth all-time among 100 goals-plus scorers with .45 goals-per.

65. Dave Maloney: A heart-and-soul guy who left it all on the ice for the Blueshirts of the ’70s and early ’80s after making his debut on the Blueshirts’ blue line as an 18-year-old in 1974. Became the youngest captain in franchise history at the age of 22 for the 1978-79 season that culminated with a trip to the Cup final.

64. Sergei Zubov: Among the best two or three power-play point men in franchise history, the Russian-born defenseman spent just three years as a Ranger before being foolishly sent away to Pittsburgh following 1994-95. Led the ’94 Cup champs with 89 points (12-77).

63. Marc Staal: A Big Three blueline fixture for the resurgent Rangers of the 21st Century in the 2000s and 2010s, except (and only) that is, when dealing with serious concussion and eye issues.

62. Allan Stanley: Defenseman who finished second in the 1948-49 Calder balloting and was the bedrock of the early ’50s blue line would rate much higher if he hadn’t been booed out of the captaincy and then off Broadway in rapid order by early 1954-55.

61. Gilles Villemure: The perfect backup for Eddie Giacomin, shared the Vezina in 1970-71. In nets for the final three games of the 1972 semifinal sweep of the Blackhawks. Little remembered fact: Played goal for the Rangers’ 3-3 tie against the Maple Leafs at the old Garden on Nov. 24, 1963, hours after Lee Harvey Oswald was killed and the night before John F. Kennedy was laid to rest.

Tomorrow: Nos. 60-31