Rick DiPietro always imagined his career taking off during the Stanley Cup playoffs — just not this career.

The former Islanders goalie turned ESPN New York radio (98.7 FM) host got the latest bump in his media career this week when it was announced highlights of his and Alan Hahn’s show will be aired nightly on MSG starting next month. There is certainly excitement in the 34-year-old’s voice as he talked about the promising show that has gone from overnight to 7-10 p.m. and now is in the noon-3 slot.

But that excitement is tinged with some regret over a once-promising hockey career derailed by injuries as he watches his former team try to win a postseason series for the first time since 1993.

“I definitely miss it more. I still haven’t gotten over the fact that I am not playing,” said DiPietro, who has not played since 2013, but notes that he is not officially retired. “The reason I signed that long-term contract [for 15 years in 2006] is because I could see where the team was headed.”

As DiPietro’s athletic life ended, his radio life began with a text to Hahn, who was on air, suggesting the Newsday columnist and friend bring up a certain hockey point during his show. Hahn suggested DiPietro try getting behind the microphone, but the goalie was hesitant given the way his career ended in New York, and the reaction fans could have to him.

DiPietro took the chance and it started with him, Hahn and SNY’s Brian Custer filling in for Dave Rothenberg overnights.

“I still don’t think we realize it,” DiPietro said. “I just knew we were having fun doing it and we were going to keep doing it until they told us we couldn’t do it anymore. We’re friends, and I think people can tell that. We wanted it to sound like two friends sitting home, watching the game together.”

This is DiPietro’s time of year. He’s free to talk hockey more on the show with the Islanders and Rangers both in the playoffs. But he grew up a fan of the Mets, Jets and Knicks, so he knows all about the emotions of being connected to those teams. DiPietro said he hopes it allows him to fill a dual role of helping fans understand the game, while also sympathizing with them.

“It’s nice to know the athletes, nice to have relationships with them, now if they come on with us or I ask them to come on with us they are more comfortable, not just like a regular sports talk radio,” said DiPietro, who is feverishly rooting on his former teammates in a 2-2 series against the Panthers.

“Now, you get to humanize the person a little bit. That’s what I try to do in the show, give fans an inside look at what’s going on in the locker room, what the coach is saying, how these guys are feeling, the different pressure they are dealing with. … We want the listeners to feel like they can drive the show, that they have a say, they have a voice. We love being their Dr. Phil when the team struggles and to celebrate with them when things are going well. We want the callers to know that their opinions matter, and the more calls the better.”