Filip Chytil skated in a normal sweater at a full Rangers skate Friday. The 24-year-old center has been out since November after sustaining a concussion. He suffered a setback while skating in January, and the Rangers ruled him out for the season.
Chytil, who has a history with head injuries, spent time in his native Czechia after the setback, but he was training there and recently returned to New York. He had a locker Thursday at the MSG Training Facility for the first time in weeks. He is medically cleared, per a person briefed on the matter, but there is still no timetable for his return to game action. A playoff return has not been ruled out, but the team’s first priority is Chytil’s health. It won’t rush a recovery.
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The Rangers do not have cap space to activate Chytil and his $4.4375 million average annual value contract from long-term injured reserve in the regular season, but teams can go over the salary cap once the playoffs begin. Chytil playing in Game 1 of the first round is unlikely, and there’s no guarantee he will play at all. But he has been feeling good, according to a person close to the player, and wanted to return to skating with the team.
Chytil had six assists in 10 games this regular season but had a 22-goal, 45-point campaign in 2022-23. If healthy, he’d offer a major boost to the Rangers’ forward group. He could potentially center the third line between Will Cuylle and Kaapo Kakko, which would allow Alex Wennberg to play on the fourth line. Having centers Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck, Chytil and Wennberg in the lineup would give the Rangers formidable depth up the middle, which is a common trait among teams who make deep playoff runs.
New York plans to take things slow, and there is no set plan for Chytil at the moment. But a playoff return is possible, which from the outside didn’t appear to be the case until this week.
(Photo: Joshua Sarner / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)