The Rangers have a Filip Chytil problem. Not in the traditional sense that he’s bad and being played too often. It’s more in the “what do we do with him?” mold. Chytil has been an enigma of a player to evaluate. Should he be a center or a wing? Is he a second line player or a third line player? Does his position change where he should be in the lineup? Many questions with far too few answers.
Over the last three seasons, Chytil has been above average in both offensive and defensive metrics across the board. He’s struggled on the powerplay, which I guess is understandable given the last three years of PP2’s status with the Rangers. When isolating for just this year, his defensive metrics have been down, but his offensive metrics are way up. He’s driving play, and has been victimized by relatively poor on-ice shooting luck.
Chytil has been praised by many for his P/60 rates, which have usually been in the upper echelon of players. The still-only-22-year-old had a career high of 2.59 P/60 last season, suggesting that if he were given more ice time, points on the scoresheet matters. This is only at even strength too, as Chytil doesn’t get much powerplay time to pad the counting stats.
This year he’s at 0.89, his career low by a country mile. As mentioned above, he’s suffering from poor on-ice shooting luck, as the Rangers are shooting 5.45% with him on the ice. This is compared to 10.51% last year with far worse consistent linemates. Shooting luck does matter, and this does appear to be a cold streak that should open up at some point this season.
The answer to unlocking Chytil might come with the second line. As Tyler suggested, there is value in keeping Alexis Lafreniere with Ryan Strome and Barclay Goodrow. It’s working. That means when Artemiy Panarin returns from COVID protocol, he’d go to a line with Filip Chytil and Julien Gauthier. If the goal is to avoid fixing what ain’t broke, then this is the natural spot for Panarin to return to.
Panarin is all-world skill, and Chytil is certainly talented in his own right. Both can create space, although both seem rather hesitant to shoot the puck this year. In theory, putting them together forces one to be the trigger man while Julien Gauthier does the dirty work. Crazier things have happened, and sometimes coaches do accidentally stumble into the optimal forward lines.
But what about long term?
If the above works for the short term, that’s great. But that doesn’t answer what Chytil’s future is for the long term. The good news is that he’s signed through next year at $2.3 million, so he’s cheap and there’s time to figure it out.
Putting Panarin with Chytil may answer the question about what position Chytil is best suited for. Remember, he’s only 22 years old. But if he looks uncomfortable at center with one of the best players in the game, then it might give us the answer we are looking for. Chytil at wing is just fine too, given the lack of depth at RW the Rangers are dealing with.
That pairing may also give us the answer as to where in the lineup Chytil belongs. He’s clearly a middle six forward, but the pay gap between middle six and top six is quite large. If he works with Panarin as a center, then perhaps he’s a cheaper 2C if Ryan Strome does price himself out of New York (all signs point to this happening). If not, then Chytil’s best value may be in a trade.
As mentioned, the good news is that Chytil is cost controlled for another year at a very manageable rate. So his future in New York doesn’t require an immediate answer. There comes a point when the Rangers need to push the envelope though, to see what he can do. Is that time now?
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