from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

Look, there’s dialogue between Rangers management and Marc Staal’s representation that is constructive. And talks will continue.

That’s all good.

But even as No. 18’s agent, Paul Krepelka, told The Post on Wednesday afternoon that “we’ve made some progress,” an agreement on a contract extension for the alternate captain is by no means imminent. There remains a substantial gulf between the parties....

“I’m not giving daily updates, not getting into ‘close or not close,’ ’’ Krepelka said. “The tenor of the talks has been good, so we’ll keep going and keep working on it. There’s certainly no deadline on our part for getting this done.

“If this becomes a distraction at any time for Marc, then we’d have to take another look at it. But it’s all been positive to this point.”

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