It’s bad.
Maybe even worse than you feared.
The official word from Rangers is that Filip Chytil, the third-line center who was about to break out at the start of the season, will be ruled out for four to six weeks with what is called “an upper body injury.” who suffered a second period of open ice collision with Evan Rodrigues in Pittsburgh on Sunday night.
Chtyil appeared to have suffered an injury to his left hand or wrist as he was being cared for on the bench by medical coach Jim Ramsay following the incident that occurred at 9:11 a.m. in the second period in which the two players also looked knee-knee. Rodrigues will be ruled out for an indefinite period of time with what the Penguins call a “lower body injury.”
As if the 1-3-1 start didn’t create enough adversity in less than two weeks of the season, this certainly adds to the challenge the Rangers are facing.
The 21-year-old Chytil, who scored two goals and a assist skating between Philip DiGiuseppe and Kaapo Kakko on what had become a stable and reliable third line, will miss his first game on Tuesday at Buffalo against the Sabers.
The Blueshirts will initially try to move the hole on Brett Howden to the third line, resuming a role he held in the first half of last season before moving to the wing for the rest of the year. Rangers coach David Quinn said Monday that he anticipated a number of changes to the team’s lineups, so it’s unclear who will have Howden on the wing as the Blueshirts try to escape a hole in their early season. .
Howden played pretty well on the fourth line until the opening of the five games, while averaging 13:17 per ice time, including 1:12 on the power play and 1:56 on the penalty. Indeed, Howden’s ability to cope with the points had elevated him above Chytil for the human advantage award, the number 72 averaging just 0:37 per, but the coach had said it would only be a temporary situation.
This hurts the Rangers right where they can probably afford the least. The organizational depth in the center of the organization is missing. Fourth-line types Kevin Rooney and Colin Blackwell are backing up for Howden in the NHL, while Morgan Barron and Justin Richards are skating in the AHL training camp in Hartford, which officially began on Monday.
At this time, it does not appear that the Rangers will promote the 22-year-old Barron to the taxi team, even if the Wolf Pack season does not start until February 7. The team has a couple of pre-season games in this coming. Sunday and Monday, so maybe the situation will change after that.
The 22-year-old Richards, who the Blueshirts signed during the off-season as a free agent in Minnesota-Duluth, missed the entire NHL camp due to COVID-19 issues. However, he is now working and could become a candidate for the taxi team, where there are two openings.
If this injury comes at an inappropriate time for the Rangers, probably twice for Chytil, who was beginning to combine his physical and dexterous attributes into an imposing package. The 21-year-old general team, the 21st of the 2017 draft, recorded three points (2-1), with a score of 63.81 Corsi at the top of the team (among players with at least 20 minutes of ice five to five) and a goal expected to lead the club of 67.96.
Moreover, the Chytil-Kakko partnership was flourishing, with each of the young weapons gaining confidence in themselves as individuals, generating chemistry as a tandem. This highlights this.
And, in addition, the Rangers for the next four to six weeks will lose the option to move Chytil to a top six spot on the line with Artemi Panarin. The management is in a need to know in terms of its long-term plan regarding that place, Ryan Strome is probably not the long-term answer. If Chtyil is able to handle the task, this would eliminate the need for the team to trade for a top six pivot that would likely be priced high.
This opportunity has disappeared for a stretch that could span up to 20 games or more than a third of the 56-game season.
Difficult break for Rangers.
Just as hard for Chytil.