Thoughts on Filip Chytil returning

Everything happened yesterday for the New York Rangers. We saw Matt Rempe draw into today’s lineup. We saw Jacob Trouba and Braden Schneider flipped on defense. But the big news was Filip Chytil returning to the Rangers, a surprise for almost everyone.

Chytil has been out since the end of October with a concussion and one failed return attempt. The Rangers played most of the season without one of their top options at 2C/3C before trading for Alex Wennberg at the trade deadline. With Chytil returning, the Rangers now have a bunch of options.

1. First things first, Chytil returning won’t happen until the playoffs. That has little to do with Chytil, and more to do with the salary cap. The Rangers are using Chytil’s LTIR space right now to keep both Wennberg and Jack Roslovic on the roster. Activating Chytil means they would no longer be cap compliant, and someone would have to go on waivers.

Instead, the Rangers will wait until the playoffs to activate him, when there is no more salary cap.

2. That means, you guessed it, the Rangers pulled a Tampa and a Vegas. The Rangers, up against the cap and using their LTIR space, are activating a key player that will help them in the playoffs and also put them significantly over the cap. We’ve lamented and even joked about how blatant Vegas has been with this and Mark Stone.

Chytil is no Mark Stone or Nikita Kucherov (Tampa did this too). But he’s a key piece for the Rangers and one that gives them even better depth down the middle with plenty of options.

3. My first guess is that, with Chytil returning, he will slide into a third line role with Will Cuylle and Kaapo Kakko. As good as Alex Wennberg has been there, Chytil turns that line from a shutdown line to a tertiary scoring line that is also solid defensively. This line will be solid fundamentally and wear down opponents with relentless forechecking and cycling.

The Rangers really needed a tertiary scoring line, and now they have it.

4. With Chytil at his presumed 3C spot, that would shift Wennberg to the fourth line with Jimmy Vesey and Barclay Goodrow. That would be the new shutdown line, and will likely be just as effective as the Cuylle-Wennberg-Kakko line. Vesey and Wennberg can carry the defensive load. Goodrow at wing means far less responsibility defensively for him, and a much more effective shutdown line.

5. Yes, that would mean both Jonny Brodzinski and Matt Rempe will be the spare forwards. However it’s hard to argue the lineup won’t look better with Zibanejad-Trocheck-Chytil-Wennberg as opposed to Zibanejad-Trocheck-Wennberg-Brodzinski. The goal is the Stanley Cup. That’s Cup winning center depth.

6. Another interesting potential for the Rangers is, with Chytil returning, putting him at 1RW with Mika Zibanejad at Chris Kreider. Jack Roslovic has been fine, but not exactly stellar, in the 1RW. role. The top line is at least driving play better and getting more 5v5 looks, but Chytil is just a better player and a better play driver.

7. The concern here, at least for me, would be roles and matchups. Zibanejad is essentially the backup shutdown C when they can’t get Wennberg out there. Is it wise to put Chytil in such an important role, even at wing (a new position), as a hybrid scoring line and shutdown line, getting some extremely difficult assignments?

He can certainly handle it. We knot that. But it also leaves the Rangers top heavy. It doesn’t answer the need for a tertiary scoring line and it doesn’t address the role the fourth line will have. Perhaps I’m just galaxy braining myself.

8. The main logic with putting Chytil with Zibanejad is to awaken some offense. Thing is, I don’t think Zibanejad’s 5v5 numbers are truly about lack of scoring, and it’s about role. When Chytil was out, Zibanejad-Kreider was essentially the shutdown line with a rotating RW. It’s why Kaapo Kakko was far more effective there than Blake Wheeler. He just fit the role better.

Chytil returning and going to 1RW, a position he has barely played, doesn’t impact the top line’s role as a backup shutdown line. That matters, and that’s getting lost.

I’m not opposed to Chytil returning and going to 1RW, but I think it’s a waste of his talent. Instead, stretch the lineup, create more scoring depth, and create a better role of the fourth line by putting Chytil at 3C.

9. Unrelated to hockey, Chytil returning is also just amazing to see. Many of us thought his career was in jeopardy, and to see him out on the ice and giving the team a boost was that unexpected jolt everyone needed.

We will never know for sure if this was always the plan, having Chytil shut it down until the last week of the season and then returning for the playoffs. It doesn’t seem that way with the Rangers acquiring Wennberg, but going back to point #4, Chytil and Wennberg combined give the Rangers some of the best center depth in the playoffs.

As happy as we are to see Chytil returning doesn’t even compare to how happy he is to be able to play.