New York Rangers: How does Filip Chytil compare to other 19-year olds?

Filip Chytil just finished his first season with the New York Rangers as an 19-year old.  How does the teenager compare to other players who were in the NHL at that tender age?

The New York Rangers had two teenagers on their roster this season.  Filip Chytil had the more impressive campaign, but how good was it?   Chytil played in 75 games, scoring 11 goals and adding 12 assists for 23 points.

According to QuantHockey.com, 885 players have competed in the NHL as 19-year olds.  For sake of comparison, let’s not include any players who appeared in fewer than 25 games.  That drops the number to 452.

The best

The gold standard for 19-year old’s is obvious.  Wayne Gretzky scored 55 goals and finished with an unworldly 164 points in 1980-81.  Only Jimmy Carson (55) and Steven Stamkos (51) scored as many as 50 goals at a 19-year old.

Five 19-year olds had as many as 100 points.  Sydney Crosby finished 44 points behind Gretzky with 120.  Jimmy Carson had 107 and Connor McDavid and Mario Lemieux finished with 100 points.

In NHL history, 45 players appeared in every game played that season with the most recent Miro Heiskanen of the Dallas Stars this season.  As sure sign that the league is getting younger is the fact that it is happening more often with 13 players doing it in the last ten years.

Ranger teenagers

The team doesn’t have a great record of success among 19-year olds. Mike Allison had the best season for a 19-year old in Rangers history.  In 1980-81 he scored 26 goals and finished with 64 points.

After Allison came defenseman Michael Del Zotto who tallied nine goals and scored 37 points in 2009-10.   The next best forward season was by winger Troy Mallette in 1989-90 who finished 13-16-29.  Chytil is next with his 23 points.

Where is Chytil?

Filip Chytil’s totals aren’t great.   Considering the number of game he played, his production wasn’t as strong as some of many of his peers.

Chytil’s 11 goals tie him for 164th all time among 19-year olds.  There were a few other prominent NHL players who scored 11 goals as Chytil did and went on to become big scorers in the NHL including Phil Kessel and Eric Staal.  He scored more goals than Jakub Voracek (9), Milan Lucic (8) and Tom Wilson (3) who all played in more games than Chytil this season.

His 23 points ranked 222nd overall, just behind players like Justin Williams, Pavel Zacha and Bo Horvat.  Petr Svoboda, Shane Doan and Petr Nedved are some of the players who were less productive at the same age.

What’s to come?

There is no disputing that Chytil is a skilled player. He has shown flashes of brilliance including a five game goal scoring streak in November.  He also scored only one goal in his last 23 games.  In his last 28 games he had two goals and only three assists.

The Rangers need to determine where Chytil fits in the lineup and  need to let him play there regularly.  Routinely bounced all over the bottom three lines and playing wing and center, it was hard for the teenager to get comfortable in one role.

If given the chance the hope has to be that Chytil turns out to be like another skater who had similar stats as a 19-year old.  That player scored 13 goals and had 26 points in 74 games in 2010-11.  He doubled his point totals the next season and is currently playing on the top line of the St. Louis Blues, preparing to play in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals.  That player is Ryan O’Reilly.