Rangers close to signing Wisconsin pair

The Badger Boys are a step closer to Broadway.

Center Derek Stepan, the Rangers second-round pick in the 2008 NHL draft, has agreed to a three-year contract. And the Rangers are hopeful that defenseman Ryan McDonagh, Stepan's teammate at the University of Wisconsin who was acquired from Montreal in the Scott Gomez trade, will sign soon, people familiar with the situation said Wednesday.

Both will attend the Rangers annual prospect camp in Westchester following this year's draft in Los Angeles on June 25 and 26. The Rangers cannot officially confirm the signing of Stepan until July 1, according to terms of the collective bargaining agreement. McDonagh, unsigned, can attend the camp either way.

Stepan, a Hastings, Minn., native who turns 20 later this month, attended Shattuck-St. Mary's, the high school which lists Sidney Crosby as its most famous alum. He really opened eyes as captain of Team USA, which won the gold medal in the World Junior Championship in January. He scored four goals and added 10 assists in seven games. As a sophomore at Wisconsin the 6-foot pivot was 12-42-54. He will likely will be assigned to a junior team.

McDonagh, who has completed his junior year, turns 21 on Sunday. He is a Minnesota native and in 2007 he won the state's Mr. Hockey award as a high-school senior. He was drafted 12th overall by the Canadiens in the 2007 draft. A rugged blueliner, he was 14-32-46 with 166 penalty minutes in 119 games as a Badger. Last June, he was sent to the Rangers along with Long Island native Christopher Higgins, Pavel Valentenko and Doug Janik for Gomez, Tom Pyatt and Michael Busto.