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New York Rangers: How does Filip Chytil’s age 19 season compare?

By Nicholas Zararis

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 21: Filip Chytil #72 of the New York Rangers skates with the puck against the Minnesota WIld at Madison Square Garden on February 21, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 21: Filip Chytil #72 of the New York Rangers skates with the puck against the Minnesota WIld at Madison Square Garden on February 21, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 23: Filip Chytil #72 of the New York Rangers skates with the puck against the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden on February 23, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 23: Filip Chytil #72 of the New York Rangers skates with the puck against the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden on February 23, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Much of the New York Ranger organization’s future is riding on the success of forward Filip Chytil. How does he compare to other NHL star’s age 19 season?

Ask anyone in the hockey universe as to how to design a winning team and they’d all mention something about drafting well. In a league with the lowest average salary of the four major sports, cost-controlled talent below market value is the name of the game. For the New York Rangers, the team has 16 different players 25-years-old or younger ready to make an impact over the next several years.

Out of this collection, Mika Zibanejad, Pavel Buchnevich and Tony DeAngelo have played well at the NHL level. Even though he’s only 19-years-old and has sat out a number of games as a healthy scratch for not living up to head coach David Quinn’s demands, Filip Chytil is well on his way to a fine rookie campaign.

For the Rangers rebuild to truly have been worth it down the line, the organization must hold at least three cornerstone players that it drafted using picks that it acquired in trades. Between the 2018 and 2019 NHL draft, New York will have made 20 selections, a small army in comparison to what other teams have.

As of now, Chytil, drafted in 2017, looks the part of a dynamic teenager ready to help build towards the future. While his reinforcements like Vitali Kravtsov, K’Andre Miller and Lias Andersson are all on the horizon, he’s stitched together a solid rookie campaign on a Ranger team with a dearth of high-end talent.

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