The New York Rangers coaching staff and general manager need to make a decision on Filip Chytil.
The New York Rangers have their first dilemma of this rebuilding season staring them in the face. The Rangers have three more games to decide if they want to keep forward Filip Chytil with the team, hence burning the first year of his entry-level contract or send him to the AHL Wolf Pack and save some salary and cap space.
Head coach David Quinn, when speaking with reporters during the postgame of the Rangers overtime loss to the Capitals Wednesday night, discussed Chytil’s play over the last two games.
The coach said in a video distributed by NHL.com, that right now Filip Chytil is going through the normal ups and downs for a 19-year old and “fighting it a little bit.” He thought that during the second game of the back-to-back games, Chytil was “a little tired”. That was reflective as Chytil only played in 12:34 of the game in Washington as compared to the 20:08 of ice time he had against Colorado on Tuesday night.
Filip Chytil played both wing and center during the back to back games as Quinn tried to get his rookie more ice time during games.
The 19-year-old is still looking for his first goal of the season, as he only has two assists on the year. The discussion about sending Chytil to the AHL comes in a time where the team is trying to find scoring.
Sending Chytil down really won’t resolve anything unless the team decides he needs another season in the AHL. It would serve no purpose to send him back to Hartford, then recall him and later on in the season where he would then play in his 11th game, hence burning the first your of eligibility anyway.
The Rangers would be better off keeping him with the club and continue to get him opportunities to be productive. He is a versatile player, who has been getting some power play and penalty killing time, but he has not found that flow players generally look for to really kick-start a season.
Since this is such an important year for the kids on the team, the team could just not worry about games and contracts and instead focus on learning, skill and making Chytil the best player than Rangers put out on the ice.
It can’t always be about the money. It should be about the team first in this instance and getting wins though that is rarely the case.
