COLUMBUS, Ohio — Patrick Kane returned to the Rangers’ lineup Saturday night against the Blue Jackets after a two-game absence due to a lower-body injury.

Since there has been so much speculation surrounding the severity of Kane’s hip issues, which appeared to be why the Rangers pivoted to trading for Vladimir Tarasenko before acquiring Kane anyway at the deadline, it only made sense for the club to be safe rather than sorry.

Kane, 34, also has much more mileage on him than the rest of his teammates.

“I mean, realistically, there would’ve been no problem playing the last couple games,” Kane said before the Rangers cruised to a 4-0 victory over the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. “Just kind of where we’re at in the season and with the schedule, just having some discussions, it made sense to take off the back-to-back and then have three games here the rest of the way.

“There hasn’t really been any discussion about that, so just planning to play the rest of the games.”

Since the club only has one extra per game for the remainder of the season, they’ll have to be strategic about how they use it.

Kane has had his breather and the next player to get one will likely depend on who needs it the most, who is chasing milestones and who makes the most sense at this time of the season.

Unless, of course, head coach Gerard Gallant is intent on giving the Rangers’ top lineup as many reps together as possible before the postseason.

Kane took line rushes on the top unit, alongside Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, on Saturday morning.

That trio hasn’t shared much ice time and has started just once together, in Washington last Sunday.

It only makes sense for Gallant to want to see more of those three on a line together before making any final decisions on his combinations for the playoffs.

“Obviously, [Zibanejad is] an amazing player,” said Kane, who earned the secondary assist on Niko Mikkola’s 3-0 score in the third period. “He’s one of the top players in the league. He skates so well, he’s so dynamic with his skating and with what he’s able to do with the puck, his shot. Looking forward to getting a chance to play with him.”

Kane noted that it’ll be important for his line not to overthink it.

While skating next to players of a similar caliber, Kane believes playing off instinct is the way to go. Chemistry will need to be developed, he said, but they can only hope that it comes pretty quick at this point in the season.

Kreider and Kane skated together for Team USA at the 2018 World Championships, in which they won a bronze medal. Kane served as captain, led the tournament in scoring and was named MVP by the media.

“It’s not too different from [Artemi Panarin], in terms of his ability to make plays with his head up — forehand, backhand, everything’s landing flat,” Kreider told The Post of playing with Kane. “Having to be ready for the puck even when you don’t necessarily think it’s coming. Remembering to move your feet off the puck and not just watching the play when he has it. He’s always generating something. Intense, competitive, wants to win as much as anyone, if not more.”

Despite Tarasenko’s performance on the Rangers’ top power-play unit in Kane’s absence, the former Blackhawks star returned to that group.

Since Kane lost some time to develop chemistry on the power play, there’s no harm in seeing what he can do.

Kane has the fourth-most goals in the NHL since 2007-08 with 451, behind only Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (473), Lightning captain Steven Stamkos (514) and Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin (724), so he should get a fair look.

“That’s where he belongs,” Gallant said of Kane on the top power-play unit. “We’re going to try him up there and see where it goes.”