Rangers need to embrace what slide has made painfully obvious

If you want to rate degree of demoralizing defeats, be my guest. If you believe that Thursday’s 4-3 loss to the Islanders at the Garden in which the Nomads got the winner with 1:26 remaining in the third period on their only shot of the final 20 minutes — while the Rangers poured 17 on Robin Lehner — leaves more scars than the four defeats preceding it, in which the Blueshirts were outscored 22-5, well, OK.

But while this five-game skid is discouraging, it has also served a constructive purpose in exposing the Rangers’ personnel once and for all as not fast enough, skilled enough or deep enough to compete on even footing with credible playoff contenders. For this high-speed crash six weeks after the slide began at Thanksgiving also should be liberating for the organization.

The pipe dream of making the postseason tournament has all but evaporated with the gap between the Rangers and the final wild-card spot held by the Islanders now at 11 points. But who, other than the few lonely voices in the team’s room, even gave that long-shot possibility more than a passing thought entering the season?

Now, with the fewest non-shootout victories (12) in the NHL accurately representing the Rangers’ spot on the league ladder, general manager Jeff Gorton and his staff are freed to retrain their focus exclusively on what was the season’s original intent, anyway.

That, lest anyone forget, was development.

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It is not about the standings. But it is also not only about the approach to the Feb. 25 trade deadline. Rather, painful as it might be for David Quinn and his coaching staff to admit, the 39-game final countdown is about ensuring the youngins on Broadway make enough progress so that they have a running start on the 2019-20 season.

So, for instance, if it might benefit Neal Pionk — whose botched coverage on Josh Bailey in front was co-conspiratorial in allowing the winner — to sit for a game or two, that should be the move even if his replacement (either Tony DeAngelo or Brendan Smith) might be struggling even more dramatically. Crafting an individualized program for Pionk, by far the most likely of the defensive trio to be here next year, is more important than getting a “W.”

Beyond that, taking care of the future might mandate sending Filip Chytil, Brett Howden and Alex Georgiev to the AHL Wolf Pack to continue their apprenticeships rather than finishing the season in the NHL. It is about putting the kids in position to thrive, not merely survive.

Chytil, 19, has flashed high-end skills while Howden has established himself with a well-developed and responsible 200-by-85 game. But speed bumps have slowed down both as the season has grinded on and the Rangers have been increasingly exposed.

In his 20 contests since extending his goal-scoring streak to five games on Thanksgiving Eve, Chytil has scored once, and that into an empty net. Indeed, subtracting that five-game binge from Nov. 12 through Nov. 21, the teenager has a total of that one empty-net goal and eight assists in 37 games. A natural center, Chytil has been bumped to left wing again so Ryan Strome can skate at center on the second line in Kevin Hayes’ continued absence.

Quinn’s move is understandable. The Rangers were simply chewed up and spit out in Colorado and Arizona going with youngsters Chytil, Howden and Boo Nieves in the middle behind Mika Zibanejad.

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But if Chytil — who had a strong final 10 minutes in this one following a brief benching — can’t play the middle even with Hayes out and the team sinking, then sending No. 72 to the Wolf Pack, where he could get first-line minutes at center would seem the wise course of action. Plus, getting the teenager out of what portends to become a second straight post-partum depression period in New York so he can participate in a legit playoff race is of benefit alone.

Howden, 20, has been a staple as the club’s third-line center since the season’s second week. But he has gone without a point in his past 10 games and has not scored a goal in the last 25 matches. Numbers do not define Howden’s game, but it might be better to put No. 21 in a position where he might dominate and feel better about himself entering the summer.

The NHL may be a results-oriented business, but this season’s results were never of prime importance on Broadway. The 9-1-1 surge into Thanksgiving may have changed the tenor of the conversation for a bit, this plunge provides a welcome and liberating reminder that 2018-19 was always meant to be about 2019-20 and beyond.

Management and the coaching staff shouldn’t be afraid to act that way.