The New York Rangers will be without forward Filip Chytil for at least the next week as he recovers from an upper-body injury, the club announced Monday.
Chytil made an early exit from Sunday’s 5–1 Rangers loss against the Columbus Blue Jackets after colliding awkwardly with opposing forward Cole Sillinger.
The 23-year-old center ultimately played just 11 seconds against the Blue Jackets on Sunday. The New York Post‘s Larry Brooks indicated Chytil is likely dealing with a concussion and will miss the next four Rangers games.
Chytil has two goals and an assist in six games with the Rangers during the 2022–23 regular season. Before Sunday’s game against Columbus, he averaged around 15 minutes per night and had points in three of his last four contests.
The Rangers originally selected Chytil in the first round (No. 21 overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft. The Kromeriz, Czechia product appeared in his first nine NHL games with the Rangers in the 2017–18 season.
Chytil has been a model of overall consistency in his four full NHL seasons, scoring 23, 23, 22, and 22 points. He most recently recorded eight goals and 14 assists in 67 games with the Rangers during the 2021–22 campaign.
As the Rangers reached the Eastern Conference Final in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Chytil’s role expanded. He scored seven goals and nine points in 20 games with the Rangers as they defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes before falling to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
In 259 career NHL games with the Rangers over parts of six regular seasons, Chytil has scored 44 goals and 96 points. With his current recovery timeline, he could return to the lineup as soon as Nov. 1 as the Rangers take on the Philadelphia Flyers at Madison Square Garden.
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