The Rangers are close to finalizing a deal that will allow Mark Messier to finish his storied NHL career as a Blueshirt.

	Messier

The New York Daily News reported Friday that the two sides are close to reaching an agreement, this after Messier skated with some of his teammates in Rye, N.Y., on Thursday.

"It's going to get worked out," Messier told newspaper Thursday afternoon. "I have no worries about the contract at all. Once I phoned Glen (Sather) and told him I wanted to play again, I had no worries about the contract."

Messier, who turns 42 in January, spent most of the offseason recovering from a left rotator cuff injury that required surgery in March.

The New York Post reported Friday that the two sides had indeed already reached an agreement. According to the report, the new deal will be worth around $3 million with bonus provisions that could add $2 million more.

"When I left here in April, my plan was to get away, relax, rehab and then see how I felt physically in August, which is exactly the way I went about the summer," Messier told the Post. "Once I determined that the shoulder was fine, then it was just a matter of getting the deal done.

"I didn't talk to any other team, I had no intention of playing anywhere else. What would of happened if the Rangers had said they weren't interested, I can't say for sure, but I do know that when I came back here two years ago, it was with the intention of making this my last stop and to retire as a Ranger, and that's the way I've approached it all along.

"I'm not ready to retire, though. Why? First of all, I really enjoy it, all aspects of the game: the process of winning and putting a team together, the camaraderie, and the competition. But most important, I still feel as if I have something to offer the team. That's one thing, I wouldn't be here if I weren't confident I could contribute to a winning team.

"I watched my contemporaries in the playoffs last year, [39-year-old] Ron Francis, [40-year-old] Chris Chelios and [41-year-old] Igor Larionov, and the way they contributed, that just reinforced my feeling that if you have the desire you can be more than competitive on a championship level," Messier told the newspaper. "I very much want to get back to where they were in the spring. I think with this team, I can."

If and when a deal is reached, Messier also is prepared for the possibility of a more limited role, since there's no guarantee he'll be put on the first power-play line or penalty-killing unit. He will also play behind first-line center Eric Lindros and newly acquired center Bobby Holik.

"Minutes, where I play, who I play with, those have never been issues for me, ever," Messier told The Post. "When you're on a team that's potentially good enough to win, where you're fortunate enough to be in that position, you do whatever you can to make it a success.

"There's a lot of hockey to be played to win the Stanley Cup; more than enough for everybody. Whatever the situation calls for, whatever Bryan (head coach Trottier) asks of me, I'm fine with it. It's only people who don't know me who don't understand that about me."