NEW YORK -- Mark Messier will be back with the New York Rangers for at least one more season.

	Messier

Messier agreed to a one-year contract with the Rangers on Wednesday to return for his 24th NHL season -- ninth with New York. The deal, completed the night before the Rangers head to Vermont for training camp, also includes an option year that can be triggered if personal and team performance goals are reached.

"I would like to play two more years,'' the 41-year-old center said. "And if I indeed do play another year after this year, then obviously I think it's just better for everybody if there's something in place where we don't have to negotiate.''

Messier is beloved at Madison Square Garden for leading the Rangers to the 1994 Stanley Cup, the team's first championship after a 54-year drought.

"We haven't made the playoffs here for a few years and I think Mark wants to help this team get back to being respectable,'' general manager Glen Sather said. "The way he feels and the way he looks right now, he may play for a few more years, who knows?''

Messier was limited to just 41 games last season because of injuries. Despite a shoulder injury that required surgery and forced Messier to miss the final 23 games and 38 overall, he wasn't considering retirement.

"I knew it would be sometime in August where I could really make a decision that was based on how I felt physically and mentally and if I was able to get myself conditioned in order to play,'' he said.

Messier, who also missed games because of a rib strain and back spasms, had seven goals and 16 assists in the second year of his second stint with the Rangers. He became just the third player in NHL history to record 1,800 points.

"Mark is in tiptop shape and I'm sure he's going to have a whale of a year and lead this club at least to the playoffs and beyond,'' Sather said.

Messier has played on six Stanley Cup championship teams and has played in 1,602 career games, the fourth most in NHL history. His 1,804 points (658 goals, 1,146 assists) are the most among active players and third on the career list.

In the playoffs, Messier is second only to Wayne Gretzky in all scoring categories, registering 109 goals and 186 assists in a record 236 postseason games. He hasn't been in the playoffs since 1997.

Messier is the only player in NHL history to captain two franchises (New York and Edmonton) to the Stanley Cup.

"He's the ultimate leader in sports today,'' Sather said.

Messier reached 1,800 points last Dec. 15, a month after he moved into sole possession of fourth place on the NHL's career assists list.

He returned to New York in the summer of 2000 after three years with the Vancouver Canucks. He left as a free agent after the 1997 playoffs, New York's last postseason appearance.

The Rangers spent $80 million earlier in this offseason to bring in free agents Bobby Holik and Darius Kasparaitis, and re-sign goalie Mike Richter. Sather is still negotiating with the agents for New York's unsigned free-agent forwards Martin Rucinsky and Radek Dvorak.

"In order to make the playoffs now and be successful, you have to have a solid team, and you have to have a strong team, and you need to play well over 82 games,'' Messier said. "I think the signings that the Rangers did this summer put us in that position now and it should make for a better year for all of us.''

Messier spent six seasons in New York, after being acquired from Edmonton in 1991. In 421 games before leaving, Messier had 183 goals and 335 assists. Since his return, Messier has 31 goals and 59 assists.

He is seventh in assists (394) and points (608) and 11th in goals (214) on the Rangers' career scoring list. Messier became the club's captain three days after he was acquired from Edmonton and reassumed the title upon his return as a free agent on July 13, 2000.