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Filip Chytil Needs Time As Second Line Center

By Lucas Standel |
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 28: Filip Chytil #72 of the New York Rangers celebrates his first period goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden on March 28, 2023 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Blue Jackets 6-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 28: Filip Chytil #72 of the New York Rangers celebrates his first period goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden on March 28, 2023 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Blue Jackets 6-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The New York Rangers have a very good trio of centers on their roster. They have Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck and Filip Chytil. While the first two are more established names in the NHL, Chytil has yet to be truly seen as a top-six center in his career.

He has mostly been given third-line time and whenever he did get the chance to step up, it would not last for more than a game or two. Prior to the playoffs, he would sign a four-year extension with the Rangers after having a career year. Now that he is locked up for the time being,

it’s time to see what he can do as a top-six center in the NHL, and whoever the new head coach is should give him this opportunity. Let him run with it and if he fails, then you can move him down, but if he succeeds, it gives the Rangers another offensive weapon and give them options if either Zibanejad or Trocheck goes down with an injury.

Chytil should be given this time because we already know what kind of player Trocheck is. He had a good first year in New York and has been a solid second/third-line center for the majority of his career. He will turn 30 years old on July 11 and he isn’t going to get any younger. Chytil will be seven years younger when that happens and he has much more runway left in his NHL career than Trocheck does.

He has never been given long stretches of time in the top six and has never gotten the chance to play with a winger like Artemi Panarin for more than a couple of games at a time. We know Panarin likes to pass and Chytil likes to shoot, so it seems as if they would be a good duo together. Give them time in practice to work together and give them a period of games in the regular season to see if it works.

If it does, great! If not, at least you tried giving him Chytil a chance instead of just letting him sit on the third line.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 28: Filip Chytil #72 of the New York Rangers celebrates his first-period goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden on March 28, 2023, in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Blue Jackets 6-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 28: Filip Chytil #72 of the New York Rangers celebrates his first-period goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden on March 28, 2023, in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Blue Jackets 6-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

It may not seem like it, but Chytil will be entering his seventh season with the Rangers at the start of the year. It seems like only yesterday that he was drafted, but he is also different from many of the picks made during the rebuild. He is one of the only ones who has made progress year after year and is one of the only ones who hasn’t gotten traded.

Lias Andersson? Gone. Vitali Kravtsov? Gone. Nils Lundkvist? Gone. So many players who the Rangers thought could be something for the team have been traded because it didn’t work out. With Chytil, he has made it work. When he got sent down at the start of the 2019-2020 season, he didn’t complain. He worked hard and scored 9 points in 9 games in Hartford before getting called up and scoring in his first game back.

It’s about time the Rangers reward him for his hard work by giving him time to show what he can truly do. Make him the second-line center to start the season. Let the kid have a chance.

The Rangers are going to look different going into next season. With Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane both on the way out, the Rangers’ offense is going to take a major hit. If they want to try and replace that, they are going to have to look to the young players to get the job done. Not just Chytil, but Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko.

All three of these players have played together as the third line for the past two seasons, but now, it’s time to break them up. Kakko is going to be the team’s top right-wing option so he needs to get more ice time.

Lafreniere may have it the toughest do the players who play in front of him on the left wing, but he should still get a chance. The Rangers drafted these players because they are the future of the franchise. Other top picks have been given the chance since day one. These players have rarely gotten that opportunity. That needs to change if the Rangers want their offense to keep up next season.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 10: Filip Chytil #72 and Vitali Kravtsov #74 of the New York Rangers skates against the Seattle Kraken at Madison Square Garden on February 10, 2023, in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Kraken 6-3. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 10: Filip Chytil #72 and Vitali Kravtsov #74 of the New York Rangers skates against the Seattle Kraken at Madison Square Garden on February 10, 2023, in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Kraken 6-3. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

This early exit for the Rangers should be a wake-up call to management that change needs to be made. The top players failed to show up and while the young players also didn’t produce much, they didn’t get as much time to play as the others did.

Chytil has been this team’s this-line center for almost seven years. He is long overdue for a look at the second-line center. He has all the talent and if he can use it correctly and has the lice-time to do it, Chytil could become an even more dangerous player for the Rangers in the future.

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