This is the conundrum facing general manager Jeff Gorton as the Feb. 26 trade deadline approaches: The more productive that Rick Nash is, the more substantial chance the Rangers have to make the playoffs. But at the same time, the more productive he is, the more substantial a package the Rangers can acquire in exchange for No. 61 as a high-end rental property.
“Catch-22,” Nash said to The Post after his second consecutive two-goal game helped elevate the Blueshirts to Thursday’s 4-3 victory over the Sabres at the Garden. “That’s certainly the reality of it, I understand that, but I can honestly say I’m so focused on my game and helping the Rangers that I don’t think about it.
“I can control my performance. I can’t control what decisions the front office might make. I have a family and two kids in preschool, so it’s not something you want to really think about even though you might have to, but it’s what we all signed up for.
“At the end of the day, it’s a business and management has to do what’s best for the organization. I’ve said before, I love it here and I want to be here. My focus is on helping the Rangers win and helping the young guys here progress.”
If the Sabres believe pending free agent Evander Kane can bring back a package featuring a first-rounder, a prospect and a roster player, then Nash should be worth at least that, if not more.
Kane was a bit player, if that, in this one while Nash not only scored twice, but triggered the sequence on which Pavel Buchnevich broke a 3-3 tie for the winner at 16:02 of the third period by pickpocketing the puck off Sam Reinhart as the Sabres tried to exit the zone.
The tap-in from the crease by Buchnevich — his first in 14 games — off a centering feed from Mika Zibanejad came just 63 seconds after Buffalo had tied the score on a Rasmus Ristolainen power-play goal. It marked the third time the Sabres had erased a one-goal deficit.
Yet the Rangers, who had been playing such fragile hockey for almost a month, did not waver. They pressed the issue and were rewarded for it.
“I think, obviously, in games past, we’ve kind of tensed up when we’ve given up a goal like that or lost a lead like that,” Ryan McDonagh said. “But I think we had good focus on the bench and just wanted to stay aggressive and be in the right position to focus on our battles and focus on our defensive structure.
“That allowed us to continue to play assertive, play in the offensive zone and create some looks.”
This one was hardly a “Masterpiece Theatre” episode. Play for the most part was ragged and uninspired. Passes went into skates more often than onto tape. The Sabres, playing their first game in seven days, had an excuse. The Rangers, well, they are consumed these days with tightening up in their own end.
Henrik Lundqvist was outstanding in turning aside 34-of-37 shots, never more so when he lunged to make a sensational grab of Ristolainen’s 55-foot rocket from the top through a screen with 3.8 seconds remaining and the Sabres — who were on the power play and with their goalie pulled — owning two extra attackers.
“I saw it when it left his stick and I kind of had to read where it was going to end up,” Lundqvist said. “I thought that was the toughest part about this game — same as when we played them outdoors [in the Winter Classic] — in they were getting pucks through from the blue line and it was just hard to pick them up.
“A lot of times you just have to try to read where it’s going to end up. It’s going through a lot of people so you just have to hope for the best.”
Nash, at his wheeling best, has put together back-to-back two-goal games after somehow scoring twice in the previous 25 games despite a plethora of golden opportunities.
“I hope they come in bunches,” said the alternate captain. “Sometimes you get five or six opportunities a night and don’t score and other times you get two chances and put both in. It’s funny how the game works.”
Just as funny as the Rangers having their best chance to make the playoffs with Nash in the lineup while having their best chance to rebuild the organization by trading him.
Catch-61.