By LARRY BROOKS

Darius Kasparaitis, whose conditioning assignment to Hartford expires today per the CBA, must either be recalled to the Rangers or placed on waivers.

If the Blueshirts reinstate the 34-year-old veteran - whose swift descent from very valuable player to spare part has been mysterious, to say the least - it will be to give him a fair shot at reclaiming the job he lost during training camp. It's difficult to imagine the Rangers will recall Kasparaitis in order to have him sit and chew up chunks of cap space.

At the same time, it's even more difficult to imagine the Rangers breaking up the three pairs - Marek Malik-Michal Rozsival; Fedor Tyutin-Aaron Ward; Sandis Ozolinsh-Karel Rachunek - that have been intact for the six games since Kasparaitis' assignment to the Wolf Pack. Even if Malik continues to Simon-Says his way through the year (one small step forward, one large step to the side, one umbrella step back), Tom Renney seems committed to him as a first-pair partner for Rozsival and an even-strength complement to Jaromir Jagr.

Plus, recalling Kasparaitis would essentially render Thomas Pock null and void as a Ranger for 2006-07. The 24-year-old has already been out for 12 straight games since Oct. 14. Actually, it could be theoretically possible for the Rangers to recall Kasparaitis while assigning Pock to Hartford for a two-week conditioning assignment of his own, but that would likely create far more trouble than it's worth.

If Kasparaitis is placed on 24-hour waivers, the contract under which he's still owed approximately $2.36 M this year and $2.989 M next year mitigates against claim by any other club. If Kasparaitis clears, the Rangers will clear a value of approximately $2.36 M of cap space this year and, barring a 2007-08 comeback, the full amount for next year.

If the Rangers subsequently would want to recall Kasparaitis, he would have to clear re-entry waivers. If chosen on re-entry - a quite iffy proposition -the Rangers and his claiming team would each be responsible for half the value of the remainder of the contract, and each would be charged with half the remaining cap charge for each of the next two seasons.

Should Kasparaitis be waived, it is possible he might ask to be loaned to a team in Russia rather than complete the season in Hartford .

The Rangers are also expected to assign Nigel Dawes to Hartford today. The 21-year-old winger, scratched from five straight and seven of the last eight and who has played just 53:54 of hockey this year, does not require waivers in order to be sent to the Wolf Pack. On Saturday, Renney said he was unsure who, if anyone, the Blueshirts might recall to take Dawes' spot as 13th forward on the roster.

"The best guy down there, does he come up? Or maybe we platoon some of our people," the coach said. "We'll talk and make a decision."

Unless Renney changes his approach to ice time, it probably doesn't make a whole lot of difference if the Blueshirts promote anyone to replace Dawes or simply keep the roster spot open until an emergency strikes.