Smith likes life on B’way

Brendan Smith said he had “a blast” being a Ranger for just over two months, and the 28-year-old defenseman, who is set to be an unrestricted free agent come July 1, made it clear he would like to return if the circumstances are right.

“Absolutely,” Smith said on breakup day Thursday in Tarrytown, when asked if he wanted to come back. “I really enjoyed being here. I like the guys, the group. ... So it’s been a blast.”

Smith was obtained in a deal with the Red Wings just before the trade deadline that sent second- and third-round picks to Detroit. He joined a team with two of his former teammates from Wisconsin, Derek Stepan and Ryan McDonagh, which certainly helped. He then raised his game substantially in the heated atmosphere for the postseason, which ended with a second-round Game 6 loss to the Senators on Tuesday.

The market would dictate a pretty hefty raise for Smith, coming off a two-year, $5.5 million deal that carried an annual salary-cap hit of $2.75 million. But this would be his first time as a free agent, so he said he was unsure of how the whole process was going to work out. Rookie defenseman Brady

(Lakeville, Minn.) and forward Kevin Hayes (Boston, Mass.) both left to join Team USA at the IIHF World Championships taking place in Paris and Cologne, Germany. They’ll join an American team that is 3-1 and in second place in the Group B preliminary round. They also will face goalie

Henrik Lundqvist, who is set to play for Team Sweden for the first time in nine years.

One player from the Rangers roster is going to be taken by the Vegas Golden Knights in the June 21 expansion draft, and backup goalie Antti Raanta surely is on their radar. He has one more year left on his current deal with a modest cap hit of $1 million, and as long as he is on the Rangers, he will be Lundqvist’s backup.

“Of course every goalie in this business wants to be the No. 1 guy,” Raanta said. “So need to work hard in the summer and you never know what happens.”