TORONTO – The curtain is about to close on Broadway’s Mike Richter Show.

Well-placed sources have told The Post the Rangers will not present Richter with a bona fide contract offer prior to July 1, instead having set their sights on Toronto’s presumptive Group III goaltender Curtis Joseph.

Richter, who joined the Rangers during the 1989 playoffs and who holds nearly every meaningful goaltending record in franchise history, will be asked to take a substantial pay cut by GM Glen Sather, who will make the offer knowing it will be rejected. The truth is – and Richter has been well aware of this for some time – Sather believes the team needs an upgrade in nets.

The truth, though unspoken by either Richter or his agent, Mike Gillis, also is that No. 35 believes it is time to seek a new environment, one in which he will be appreciated by management, one in which he can re-establish himself after five straight years of missing the playoffs.

Though Sather last month suggested in conversations with rival general managers that he would be looking for a mid-level goaltender to split chores with 19-year-old sophomore Dan Blackburn, the GM has reversed course dramatically and will seek to sign Joseph, who, at 35, is seven months younger than Richter and is expected to officially cut ties with the Maple Leafs on Monday.

The Rangers will need an elite goaltender in place no later than mid-day of July 1 in order to attract Bobby Holik and either Tony Amonte or Billy Guerin. While Cujo certainly fits that definition, the strategy of pursuing him is fraught with risk. If Sather cannot sign Joseph – who likely will want a four-year, $36 million deal to come to Broadway – he not only will be left with a considerable hole in nets, the domino effect of that failure will cost him every select free agent on the market, as well.

The Rangers are likely to face their most severe competition for Joseph from the Red Wings, who expect Dominik Hasek to announce his retirement early next week. It is not known whether Joseph would be willing to lower his asking price in Detroit to gain the opportunity to win his first Stanley Cup. The Red Wings also are expected to be in on the auction for Holik.

The Devils – who, according to multiple sources, replaced head coach Kevin Constantine with Pat Burns specifically to increase their chances of keeping their franchise center – are spreading the gospel that they will match any offer Holik receives on the open market.

The Blues, Flyers, Red Wings, Maple Leafs and Bruins all are expected to be interested in Richter, who is coming off the four-year, $21.7M deal he signed after becoming a free agent in the summer of 1999.

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The Rangers are set to announce the hiring of folk hero Nick Fotiu as an assistant coach in Hartford. And while the decision has not been finalized, WHL Kootenay coach Ryan McGill is the front-runner to replace John Paddock as head coach of the Wolf Pack.