The Rangers’ pursuit of two-time Selke Trophy winner Mike Peca ended in a flurry of head-shaking and disappointment last night.

Peca’s agent, Don Meehan, returned to Toronto from Vancouver last night to declare negotiations over with the recalcitrant Rangers, who had gone so far as to bring the former Sabre and Islander captain to New York for a physical and interview last week.

Meehan had been frustrated for a week at being unable to contact Ranger GM Glen Sather, and it appears he eventually decided to take it as a hint that the Rangers had changed their minds about the 33-year-old.

Instead, Meehan last night turned to other teams who had expressed interest in Peca, with the Columbus Blue Jackets apparently the new front-runners.

Peca is coming back from a seriously fractured leg suffered last December with the Maple Leafs, who signed him last summer for $2.5 million. The Rangers would have given themselves salary cap issues by signing the gritty defensive specialist with significant counter-attacking skills, but nothing of the scope that the Devils had forgiven by the league last year.