Four years of Rangers president/general manager Chris Drury making googly eyes at Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan. Four years of unrequited love including two coaching searches that yielded instant gratification followed by immediate alienation of affection.

So from the moment of Sullivan’s divorce from the Penguins on Monday, this hookup with the Blueshirts made official Friday morning was as predictable as Carrie Bradshaw falling into the arms of Mr. Big after it all fell apart with Aidan.

If Drury were playing with house money, this might have gone differently and the Rangers might have conducted an exhaustive search that would have spotlighted bright young minds even without experience presiding over an NHL bench.

Under that circumstance, the Rangers could have, and likely would have, reached out to David Carle, to Marc Savard, to Jeff Halpern, to Manny Malhotra, to Jay Pandolfo, to Jessica Campbell. But that is not where either Drury or the organization is at the moment.