Brady Skjei embraces leadership role with Rangers

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Brady Skjei was talking about how “the young guys” were looking so good through the opening handful of days at training camp.

Brady Skjei is 24 and about the enter his third full NHL season with the Rangers.

Old guy?

“Well, when you put it that way, no, but as crazy as it sounds, I am one of the guys who have been around here the longest,” the defenseman told The Post this week. “And beyond that, with the players we’ve moved over the last year, I feel that it’s time for me to move into a leadership role.

“And I’m embracing that.”

It is important to note that Skjei is not only one of the guys who have been here the longest — No. 76 is one of seven holdovers from the 2016 playoff squad that went down meekly in five first-round games to the Penguins — but he is the guy to whom the Rangers are contractually committed longer into the future than anyone else in the organization.

The team cannot declare on Chris Kreider, whose contract runs through 2019-20, until next July, and management seems to have deferred a decision on Kevin Hayes, who is free to go after the season and who cannot be extended off his current one-year deal until January.

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But there was no hesitancy in declaring on Skjei, who skipped over the entire bridge-contract thing off entry level to sign a six-year, $31.5 million deal ($5.25 million average annual value) that runs through 2023-24. Mika Zibanejad, whose deal runs through 2021-22, is the only other Blueshirt under contract beyond the potential 2020-21 lockout/strike season.

“It’s very humbling to know that the organization has placed so much trust in me,” said Skjei, whose team will get back on the ice Friday after a day off. “It’s a very good feeling knowing that they’ve identified me as an important piece of the core going forward.”

Skjei, then in his first pro season out of the University of Minnesota, joined a veteran core in 2015-16 that featured lettermen Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi and Marc Staal, plus vets Kevin Klein, Keith Yandle and Dan Boyle. Staal and Skjei are the last men standing.

“It was great to learn from those guys, but I’ve had leadership roles in the past at school and I’m excited to be in that position here with this team,” Skjei said. “I feel like I’m an easy guy to talk to and approach. I think younger guys respect me and will listen to what I can tell them.

“We’re in this together.”

Skjei pencils in as the club’s top-pair lefty, likely to partner with Kevin Shattenkirk or perhaps Adam McQuaid as David Quinn searches for a complementary combination to match against the opposition’s top units. The Skjei-Shattenkirk tandem was intact for 29 games and 459 five-on-five minutes last year and did not score particularly well in any popular metric. But then, Shattenkirk was playing on one good leg and Skjei was in a down year himself after his 2016-17 freshman season in which he recorded 39 points (5 goals, 34 assists) and gained NHL all-rookie recognition.

“I don’t think I played my best at all last year and I’m not going to blame it on the team,” Skjei said. “A lot of guys didn’t have a great year, but that’s on us. As far as I’m concerned, that’s in the past. There’s no reason to dwell on it.

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“I’m trying to put my best foot forward, learn the new system from the coaches and do what I can to lead us in the right direction.”

Skjei has worked with assistant coach Greg Brown on Team USA at the 2014 World Juniors, so the two have a past relationship off which to build. Quinn, Brown, David Oliver and Lindy Ruff have been overseeing a hands-on, teaching-intense camp.

“There’s a lot of feedback between the coaches and the players,” Skjei said. “Speed is going to be key for us; pressuring guys, jumping on loose pucks, but at the same time reading plays and seeing how they develop so we work together as a five-man unit. We have to protect the middle. That’s critical.

“There’s a lot of one-on-one teaching regarding positioning and stick positioning. For me, it’s about using my skating and creativity to be involved with the offense and being smart and making the right play in the defensive zone.

“There’s a good vibe here. I’m looking forward to being one of the guys counted on to be a leader and turn things around in the right direction.”