The Filip Chytil concussion conundrum: Are the Rangers preparing for life without him?

The Filip Chytil concussion is a scary one for sure. Not because it looked bad on the ice, or because we had a crazy replay that showed something horrific, but because of the uncertainty and unknowns that are concussions. The long term impacts of concussions are well documented, but trying to determine severity and length of recovery is still unclear.

Chytil has had a fair share of concussions early in his career. The exact number is unknown, but it’s at least documented 4 concussions in the 24 year old center’s career thus far. Chytil did manage to hit the ice briefly, but since his short stint skating on his own, he hasn’t been seen, and the only news we have is that he went to a concussion expert.

Before we go all doom and gloom, it’s worth noting that both Sidney Crosby and Patrice Bergeron struggled early in their careers with concussions. Both had Hall of Fame careers after. Now Chytil is not on the same page as either Crosby or Bergeron in terms of current talent, but there is hope that he can return at some point. The flip side of the coin is, of course, Michael Sauer.

Perhaps (read: likely) this is premature and over analysis, but it does feel like the Rangers are preparing for life without Filip Chytil, at least for this season. Adam Edstrom’s recall before the Florida trip this weekend sparked that thought, but it isn’t without prior precedence.

The Rangers have made a bunch of questionable recalls this season, all from a cap perspective. There have been several recalls where players simply haven’t played, notably Connor Mackey and Anton Blidh.

Normally this wouldn’t raise eyebrows, but the cap situation puts these recalls into hyper focus. Even before the injuries, the Rangers needed to be cap savvy and bank cap space at every possibility. Injuries are making this exceedingly more difficult, and each recall adds another layer of difficulty in managing the cap.

Calling up a player for a road trip as a precaution is standard procedure, thus the Edstrom recall today. But the others were when the Rangers were at home and didn’t have a back-to-back. There are definitely nuances to LTIR cap management that are far beyond my understanding, so perhaps there are good reasons for this.

But, and again I am probably overanalyzing this, it does appear that the Rangers have no intentions of maximizing cap space. So it likely means one of two things:

1. They are expecting Chytil back, along with Kaapo Kakko, and will use whatever cap space is remaining on depth players
2. They are not expecting Chytil back, thus their approach is to maximize LTIR space and find a rental replacement for the playoffs.

We may not have clarity on their plans yet, but we will soon. If the Rangers acquire anyone with a decent cap hit, then Chytil is done for the regular season, if not longer. But as a reminder, the Rangers can simply shut him down until April, then have him return for the playoffs.