The New York Rangers may be getting a key piece of their forward core back in time for their game against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night at Ball Arena.
After missing two games with an upper-body injury, Filip Chytil was a full participant in practice on Monday. The 25-year-old center left a 5-4 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars on Jan. 7 after two periods and didn’t return. He hasn’t played since. Earlier this season, Chytil missed seven games after a collision with teammate K’Andre Miller. The Rangers said that upper-body injury was not a concussion.
Though not willing to disclose the exact nature of this injury, Chytil did confirm that it was not a setback related to his history with concussions.
“No concussion issues,” Chytil said. “It’s more complicated than that.”
That comment is reassuring on one hand but leaves much room for interpretation. For now, the focus is on getting Chytil back into the lineup ahead of another important matchup against a very good Western Conference team in the Avalanche.
“How I said before in November, we can sit in the future and [speak] about [my] whole career, what happened and all the things,” Chytil explained. “I know that, my close people know that and this team. But right now, what happened [in the] Dallas game, is what happened. Hopefully, I’ll be back tomorrow, but whenever I’ll be back, I’m ready to play.”
Based off of line combinations at practice on Monday, it looks like Chytil will slot back into the lineup on the third line, centering Chris Kreider and Arthur Kaliyev. This means that Kreider is also a likely option to play on Tuesday night. He’s been on IR with an upper-body injury since his last game Jan. 4 against the Washington Capitals.
After opening up about back issues that have hindered him throughout the season, it is likely that this could be a related injury. Kreider and Chytil both skated in full Monday, and each was on the second power-play unit, an even better sign that they will be playing against the Avalanche. The first power play remained unchanged with Will Cuylle in Kreider’s usual net-front spot.
Kreider is third on the Rangers with 13 goals and ninth with 15 points. Chytil is eighth on the Rangers with 17 points (10 goals, seven assists) in 33 games.
Addition of Filip Chytil, Chris Kreider shakes up Rangers lines once again
With Chytil and Kreider likely returning to action Tuesday, the forward lines will be juggled once again, primarily in the bottom six. So, it looks like Jonny Brodzinski and Jimmy Vesey will draw out of the lineup, and Sam Carrick will move back down to center the fourth line.
Here are the full lines and pairings:
Panarin – Trocheck – Lafreniere
Cuylle – Zibanejad – Smith
Kreider – Chytil – Kaliyev
Edstrom – Carrick – Rempe
Lindgren – Fox
Miller – Borgen
Vaakanainen – Schneider
Getting Kreider and Chytil back in the lineup provides a huge boost to New York’s depth at forward. Chytil played great before being hurt, scoring four goals and one assist in his past five contests. But, as is often the case, he’s been forced to miss time right as he begins to get hot.
“It’s hard. It’s hard because you want to be out there every game,” Chytil mentioned. “It’s very frustrating to watch my team play games. I learned so much last year, I went through a lot last year, which helps me mentally. Right now, this hurdle happens, I’m just stronger in my head.”
Chytil missed all but 10 regular-season games last season with a head injury and a subsequent setback. He also appeared in six Stanley Cup Playoff games.
But it doesn’t seem like Chytil will be missing much more time, if any at all. The Rangers (20-20-2) are heating up, 4-1-1 in their past six games, and can get an even bigger boost if Chytil and Kreider return.
“It’s just helping me to be better,” Chytil continued. “Of course, it sucks that I got to miss the time. I’ve missed so much time in my career. Every time I’m back, I just work hard. I just focus to be better. That’s just my goal. It’s the fuel for me to be better. It’s not like starting from zero every time, but it’s always the hurdle in the way and I believe that in the future, it’s going to come back for me in a good way. I’m positive about all these things.”
