New York Rangers: A tale of two Chytils
If there has been one surprise in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs for the New York Rangers, it has been the transformation of Filip Chytil. In the regular season, he was an enigma, a talented, big bodied forward who, according to many, couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. Not any more.
Chytil, along with Igor Shesterkin, was the star of Game Six with two goals including the game winner. It was his best game of the postseason, very likely the best game of his career.
A first round draft pick in 2017, the 21st overall pick has seen his stock rise and fall. Early success has led to later disappointment with his development. It’s important to remember that the Czech native is still only 22 years old and was rushed to the NHL when he had barely turned 18. He has already played parts of five seasons in the NHL, pretty remarkable for a 22 year old.
As a 20-year-old in 2019-20 he scored 14 goals and seemed poised to explode as the future second line center for the Rangers. In the two subsequent seasons he scored only eight goals in each and showed an inability to win faceoffs topping out with a 43% winning rate.
With the Rangers facing a severe salary cap situation and Ryan Strome a pending unrestricted free agent, Chytil’s play could solve a lot of issues for the Blueshirts going forward.
The playoffs
His work in the playoffs this year has been outstanding. It started when Coach Gerard Gallant put together the “Kid Line” of Chytil, Alexis Lafrenière and Kaapo Kakko. Though the trio had played together before, it seemed like they gelled under the high stakes of the playoffs.
3-0 #NYR thanks to Chytil!!!!#NoQuitInNY pic.twitter.com/XrtUWmV9rn
— Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) May 29, 2022
For Chytil, in the first game of the playoffs, he scored what could have been the winning goal, but it was disallowed due to an iffy call of goalie interference.
Even the Penguins broadcast thought it was a good goal.
— Stat Boy Steven 🇳🇱 🇿🇦 🇮🇪 (@StatBoy_Steven) May 4, 2022
I'm not quick to blame the referees. In fact, I can't stand that every time we lose a game I have to read about how it's always the refs, but in this case... Yeah, it should have been a goal #NYR pic.twitter.com/rdJKleUiGz
Since then, he has scored four goals in 12 games, adding one assist while averaging 13:31 minutes of ice time.
He is the only Ranger who is on the plus side of possession statistics with a Corsi rating of 52.45%. When he is on the ice at 5v5, his expected goals (xGF) for is 7.1 while his expected goals against (xGA) is 7.19. That makes his expected goals percentage 49.68%, the best on the team.
In a series when the Rangers have been outshot and outchanced by the Hurricanes, the Blueshirts have had 45.31% of the high danger chances when Chytil is on the ice, the best of any Ranger outside of Tyler Motte. Compare that to Mika Zibanejad (31.33%) or Ryan Strome (36.28%).
Despite playing the eighth most minutes for a Ranger forward, he has been on the ice for 79 scoring chances, fifth most on the team and one behind Mika Zibanejad.
The eye test
But if you throw all of the analytics out the window and just rely on the eye test, it is clear that Chytil is a different player this postseason. His shots have been on net with good results. In the regular season his shooting percentage was 5.9%. In the playoffs it is 14.3%.
His first goal in Game Six was on the second straight odd man rush on the same shift. He missed wide on his first attempt, but lasered the puck past Antti Raanta when given another opportunity. In the regular season, no one would have been surprised if he missed both shots or put the second shot into the logo on Raanta’s chest. Instead, he went for corner of the net on Raanta’s glove side and scored.
CHYTIL HEAT 🔥
— Rangers Videos (@SNYRangers) May 29, 2022
(via @NYRangers) pic.twitter.com/CydzMzH00g
He’s also showing new confidence in his shots. His second goal in Game Six was an excellent example. He went for the puck on the boards and took Brendan Smith out of the play with a reverse hit. He then put a beautiful backhand over the shoulder of Pyotr Kochetkov to give the Rangers a 4-1 lead. Watch the second replay.
Chytil hatty watch pic.twitter.com/8Z1sGXlolC
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) May 29, 2022
Chytil has two game winning goals and you could argue that his disallowed goal in the Penguins series means he could be tied for the team lead with Chris Kreider. Chytil still doesn’t see much power play time, playing 12:21 this postseason compared to the top unit, all with over 40 minutes with the man advantage.
Perhaps the most telling statistic about Chytil has been his willingness to take hits to keep play going. He has been hit 20 times in the playoffs. Only Lafrenière has been hit more among forwards, 24 times.
His future
Filip Chytil signed a two-year deal for $4.6 million before this season. He will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights after the 2022-23 season. That $2.3 million AAV is starting to look favorable on the Rangers’ ledger and if he can carry this through to next season, he will be looking for a bigger payday next summer.
Chytil’s play does give Chris Drury some options when he decides what to do with pending UFA centers Ryan Strome and Andrew Copp.
These playoffs have been an opportunity for Chytil and he has seized it. If anything, this says a lot about player development. Chytil has played the third most NHL games (253) of any player drafted in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. He has scored the eighth most goals (42) and more than any player drafted after him except Jason Robertson of Dallas. He has the tenth most points (93) of any 2017 draftee.
Maybe this is the most important fact out of that draft class. Chytil and Carolina’s Martin Necas (#12 overall) are the only forwards drafted in the first round that year who are still playing hockey.
It remains to be seen if the Filip Chytil we are seeing in the playoffs is the player we will see in the regular season. If it is, things look good for an already rosy future for the New York Rangers
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