The New York Rangers got some excellent news on the injury front on Monday, as according to Emily Kaplan, Rangers center Filip Chytil is returning to New York.
Chytil, 24, has been out of the lineup since November 2nd due to an upper-body injury, and had returned to his home country of Czechia to heal and train before making his way to New York on Monday. There’s still no timetable for a return to the lineup, but this certainly indicates that he’s close. The Rangers have gone 21-13-2 in his absence, still a great pace but not nearly as good as their 8-2-0 run with Chytil in the lineup.
Chytil was producing when he was healthy at the start of the season, although he had yet to score a goal and has just six assists in 10 games this season. That would have put him on pace for 49 points in a full season, which would have surpassed his current career-high of 45 points set last season.
Chytil has become a solid playmaker in the league in the past four years. His 0.78 primary assists per 60 minutes is tied for 63rd among forwards with at least 2,000 minutes of ice time, which is at the level of top line production if he ever can get a top six role with the Rangers.
Chytil was the 21st-overall pick for the Rangers in the 2017 NHL Draft, and has spent parts of seven seasons in the NHL since, including a nine-game tryout right out of his draft year before securing a full-time spot in the 2018-19 season.
Chytil is currently in the first year of a four-year contract with a $4.4375 million cap hit, a deal he signed as an extension late in the 2022-23 season.
The Rangers will look to build off of Sunday’s victory over the Anaheim Ducks when they finish their road trip out west in San Jose against the Sharks on Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. EST. The Rangers currently sit in first in the Metropolitan Division with a 29-15-2 record.
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