The eight-game heater with which the Rangers left the Garden on Tuesday night following their high-rent-district 3-1 victory over Dallas has not erased all doubts about the team’s championship fiber. The winning streak that began the game before the All-Star break has not quite done that.

But this run is somewhat reminiscent of the 18-4-1 getaway that stamped the Blueshirts as an upper-echelon team in a league without a single great one. There are no 1982 Islanders, 1992 Penguins, 2002 Red Wings or 2013 Blackhawks casting a dark and daunting shadow over the proceedings.

And this stretch surely justifies general manager Chris Drury pushing his chips to the middle of the table as the March 8 trade deadline approaches … but also with some prudence. The Rangers are not one piece away like the Islanders when they acquired Butch Goring at the 1980 deadline in the most impactful trade in pro sports history.

But the 37-16-3 Blueshirts are tied for third overall in the league with Boston and three points out of the top spot while trailing only Vancouver and Florida. Their victory over the fifth-overall Stars in a game that was played primarily in the battle zones demonstrated this group’s ability to win with grind and substance without relying on sizzle.

Drury and the hierarchy have to be approaching this with a “Why not us?” attitude.

There are different interpretations of what pushing the Rangers’ chips into the middle would mean. It does not mean making a trade equivalent to Tony Amonte for Stephane Matteau and Brian Noonan. It does not mean sacrificing Brennan Othmann. It certainly does not mean forfeiting the rights to Gabe Perreault. It does not mean trading Kaapo Kakko because, well, come on, did that ever make the slightest sense?

But the 2024 first-rounder will be in play as it certainly should. Anyone in AHL Hartford other than Othmann — and that includes Brett Berard and perhaps Adam Sykora — should be on the table, of course depending on the return to New York. Drury has dispensed draft picks like Pez in exchange for rentals at the last couple of deadlines and that is not a sustainable strategy.

But this is a team that has won once in 84 years that has been built to win now. I am fairly certain folks in the executive suite at 4 Penn Plaza were doing a jig following Igor Shesterkin’s spectacular 41-save performance against Dallas that featured a third-period stick save at the goal line on Tyler Seguin when it was 2-1 with 4:18 to go that evoked Jonathan Quick denying Mats Zuccarello in Game 3 of the 2014 final. In Igor the organization trusts.

This is a deadline without a dead-solid rental to tip the scales in a market that will feature more buyers than sellers. For the most part, the bazaar will feature role players. But Barclay Goodrow and Blake Coleman were role players when they went to the Lightning at the 2020 deadline, no?

The Rangers are in need of a right wing to skate with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. They could surely use an upgrade in the middle of the developing third line featuring Kakko and Will Cuylle on the flanks and Jonny Brodzinski at center. And they could use muscle on the left side of the third defense pair though the staff may be satisfied to stick with the offense-driving Erik Gustafsson. This all falls under the umbrella of becoming a tougher opponent.

The Post has learned that the Blueshirts have identified Seattle center Alex Wennberg as a person of interest to fill that spot in the middle of the third line. The 29-year-old is a pending free agent working on the final year of a free-agent deal he signed with the Kraken in 2021 under which he carries a $4.5 million cap hit.

Wennberg has some size at 6-foot-2, 190 pounds, skates well and would probably play down in the lineup as a third-liner. The Swede, 8-14-22 this season, does not necessarily have the same shooting mentality of Brodzinski but he has 42 games of playoff experience, has a fair amount of skill and is a no-doubt legit 200-foot NHL center finishing his 10th year.

The Rangers, we are told, are not alone regarding their interest in Wennberg. The Bruins, who may need a top-six center, have been identified as in the mix. The cost — which would be impacted by Seattle retaining 50 percent of the cap charge that would enable Drury to conduct further business — won’t be cheap. The Blueshirts, though, can’t empty the piggy bank for a third-line center.

Drury will have to be adroit over these next two-plus weeks in attempting to transform what has been a very successful regular-season roster brimming with talent over the last three seasons into a playoff lineup with enough fiber and physicality that can win four series and 16 games.

The Rangers have been at the top of the division every day since Oct. 24. They won six straight early, they have won eight straight now.

They are one of the league’s best teams. And they are playing well enough to justify the GM pushing his chips — not all, there’s got to be some left over for the ride home — into the middle of the table.