McQuaid refuses to see Blueshirts as rebuilding

Adam McQuaid didn’t get the letter. The defenseman was in Boston as a Bruin when Rangers management issued its landmark decree to the fan base last February. Thing is, he might not have read it, anyway.

“I know [the Rangers] traded a lot of guys at the deadline last year but I don’t really see this team as a rebuilding team,” said the righty, who will turn 32 on Oct. 12. “I think there’s a ton of potential and skill here even if it is a younger team. It doesn’t change my outlook on things.”

McQuaid had spent the first eight years of his career with Boston, winning the Stanley Cup in his 2010-11 rookie season. He was acquired from the Bruins on Tuesday in exchange for Steven Kampfer, a fourth-round pick and a conditional seventh-rounder in order to provide a blend of net-front toughness and experience on the blue line.

“It’s tough leaving a place you’ve been for a long time, put a lot into with them giving you a lot in return, but at the same time I’m excited for the opportunity to come here and help a younger group,” McQuaid said. “I’m looking forward to starting this chapter here.”

McQuaid is in the final year of his contract that car- ries a $2.75 million cap hit and is thus likely to be on the rental market as the deadline approaches in late February. He missed 36 games with a broken right leg he sustained blocking a shot on Oct. 19. He played 16 straight upon his Jan. 17 return before sitting as a healthy scratch in five of six and seven of 10 matches before playing the final 14 games of the regular season and all 12 of the Bruins playoff contests.

“There are no lingering issues,” he said. “I feel good. I’m not going to change the way I play.”

Chris Kreider, lean and sporting a buzz-cut, said he went through a final series of exams over the summer to determine whether he is predisposed to clotting. The winger, who missed nearly two months and 24 games with a blood clot that was diagnosed in late December and for which he underwent a ribre section, said he has been given “a clean bill of health.”

“They’re 99-percent sure it was purely mechanical,” said Kreider, who is at about the same 220 pounds he was after dropping 15 pounds during his absence. “It’s a bigger issue if it is not.”

Yegor Rykov, the 21year-old defenseman obtained from New Jersey last season in the Michael Grabner deal, has requested a trade from his KHL SKA club after not playing in the club’s first five games, The Post has learned.