The Rangers’ first reinforcement has arrived.

President and general manager Chris Drury acquired forward Frank Vatrano in exchange for a 2022 fourth-round pick, the Rangers announced on Wednesday. The conditional draft pick the Rangers are sending will be the later of either the organization’s own selection or the one that previously belonged to the Jets.

It is the first domino to fall on what could be a busy five days for the Rangers leading up to the March 21 deadline.

Vatrano, 28, is a veteran of eight NHL seasons and 14 playoff games who can play multiple positions. Having slid down the Atlantic Division-leading Panthers’ lineup this season, Vatrano was a logical option for the cash-strapped club to unload in order to free up some much-needed cap space.

Carrying a cap hit of $2.533 million on an expiring deal, Vatrano can bring some experience and offense to the Rangers’ bottom six. And at the cheap price of just a single fourth-rounder, Drury gave the Rangers’ third line a solid upgrade and still has plenty of assets to spare for another deal down the road.

With Vatrano set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, Drury will be able to either re-sign the Springfield, Mass., native to a deal that works for the Rangers or only be on the hook for part of one season if it doesn’t work out.

It is likely that Vatrano, who will address the New York media Thursday before the Rangers take on the Islanders at the Garden, will replace either Julien Gauthier or Jonny Brodzinski on the third unit. With 10 goals and nine assists in 49 games, Vatrano should be able to ease the significant drop-off in production from the Rangers’ top two lines to the third.

Padding out the Rangers’ bottom six was always a priority, but adding a player with postseason experience like Vatrano also bodes well for a team that is nearing its first legitimate playoff berth since 2017. In 14 career playoff games, Vatrano has two goals, one assist and a 34.9 faceoff win percentage.

Vatrano scored two goals, the game-tying tally and the game-winner, on Tuesday night in the Panthers’ 3-2 win over the Sharks. Even though his scoring pace has taken a dip this season, Vatrano has recorded 26 points or more in each of the previous three seasons, including a 39-point campaign in 2018-19.

The undersized and undrafted forward out of UMass has skated in 379 NHL games between the Panthers and Bruins, totaling 93 goals and 64 assists for 157 points. He led the Panthers with a career-high seven game-winning goals last season, in addition to three overtime tallies and 10 third-period scores.

After scoring 18 goals and dishing 10 assists in 36 games for the Minutemen in 2014-15, Vatrano signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Bruins in March 2015. He made his NHL debut on Nov. 7, 2015, when he scored against the Canadiens in a 4-2 defeat in Montreal.

Vatrano sustained torn ligaments in his left foot at the start of the 2016-17 season and missed all of the Bruins’ training camp and preseason. The Bruins ultimately traded Vatrano to the Panthers in exchange for a 2018 third-round pick and later signed him to the three-year, $7.59 million deal he’s on now.

“After almost five seasons with the club, we want to thank Frank for his professionalism and compete,” Panthers general manager Bill Zito said in a statement. “His team-first approach was always appreciated, and we wish him all the best moving forward.”

The Rangers are likely just getting started, but Vatrano checks a lot of boxes for a team that has holes in need of filling.