Unable to reach an accord with Ranger management to guarantee his $1,127,500 major league contract were he to suffer an injury playing under an AHL deal in Hartford — the Rangers might have been prohibited from doing so by the NHL — Lundmark yesterday reached an agreement to play for the Bolzano club in the Italian League.

The agreement includes an escape clause that will allow the 23-year-old pivot, who sustained a sprained right MCL that limited him to 56 games last year, to return to the Rangers as soon as the lockout ends.

While Lundmark has opted to play in Europe, where personal insurance on his NHL contract is far more affordable than it is here, Blueshirt teammates Jed Ortmeyer, Blair Betts and Jason LaBarbera are expected to sign with the Wolf Pack under AHL contracts.

The Wolf Pack will open training camp on Sept. 27 at the MSG training facility in Westchester. Fedor Tyutin, Jozef Balej, Dwight Helminen, Maxim Kondratiev, Ryan Hollweg, David Liffiton, Jake Taylor, Dominic Moore and Lee Falardeau are among those who are scheduled to participate in the camp — which apparently will be run by the Rangers' coaching staff.

-Larry Brooks
nypost.com