The Filip Chytil Situation: Blessing or Curse?

[BrooksBurner]

3 minutes ago, RichieNextel305 said:

Any suggestions? I’m just curious who some people are thinking of.

 

Guentzel is an in-between because he isn’t old and and he isn’t young. But he’s gonna be looking for a retirement contract.

 

To me, there is an allure there just because it was ruffle feathers in that locker room. I think Guentzel, even with his size, is a prick to play against. And he’s had some battles with this Rangers team. There is no love lost there between he and several members of our core. Maybe he can come in and be that guy that can find room in the playoffs and help push us over the top?

 

But again, he’s gonna get paid. Not many teams know him for the player he is as well as this Rangers team does. 13 playoffs games against him over 3 seasons, plus countless regular season games too.

 

But what are some ideas? 

 

Sharangovich in Calgary. I think @Drew a Penalty mentioned him at the deadline.

 

Batherson in Ottawa.

 

 

 

 

[RichieNextel305]

I remember seeing something the last day or 2 about potentially Arvidsson being available. He and Mika are friends. Do we want to go that route?

 

I love the idea of Guentzel for many reasons. He brings what we need as far as playoff scoring goes. And he ruffles feathers. But again, the contract is worrisome. And likely out of our range.

[Drew a Penalty]

21 minutes ago, BrooksBurner said:

 

Sharangovich in Calgary. I think @Drew a Penalty mentioned him at the deadline.

 

Batherson in Ottawa.

 

 

 

 

 

I did like Shanarongvich a lot when I watched him with Calgary. His motor was often running when others weren't. I found him really similar to Buch.

[Phil]

The biggest question is how the Rangers want to build their lineup. Zibanejad is almost certainly not going anywhere. Neither is Trocheck. If Chytil is your third-line center, your third line is another scoring line, not a matchup/checking line. Maybe they don't need that, but with the narrative building that they need to be better built for the playoffs, I'm not sure they can get away with it.

 

If NYR view him as a center, fine, but I don't know how you build a better "playoff style" roster if your first three lines are soft skill only.

[BrooksBurner]

1 minute ago, Phil said:

The biggest question is how the Rangers want to build their lineup. Zibanejad is almost certainly not going anywhere. Neither is Trocheck. If Chytil is your third-line center, your third line is another scoring line, not a matchup/checking line. Maybe they don't need that, but with the narrative building that they need to be better built for the playoffs, I'm not sure they can get away with it.

 

If NYR view him as a center, fine, but I don't know how you build a better "playoff style" roster if your first three lines are soft skill only.

Chytil isn’t a checking center, but Zibanejad is pretty close to that with defensive chops.

 

Put Chytil in a position to succeed offensively. Put him with Kreider and a TBD RW with talent.

 

Put Zibanejad with Cuylle and Kakko. That’s your matchup line with a bit of everything.

[Phil]

Just now, BrooksBurner said:

Chytil isn’t a checking center, but Zibanejad is pretty close to that with defensive chops.

 

Put Chytil in a position to succeed offensively. Put him with Kreider and a TBD RW with talent.

 

Put Zibanejad with Cuylle and Kakko. That’s your matchup line with a bit of everything.

 

No, he isn't. He's a good defensive player, but a checking center is more like Boone Jenner — big body, bullish defensively, physical. Mika is big for no reason. He's not remotely physical. Don't confuse defensive responsibility with aggression.

 

But if they're changing nothing, I'd at least try this.

[BrooksBurner]

12 minutes ago, Phil said:

 

No, he isn't. He's a good defensive player, but a checking center is more like Boone Jenner — big body, bullish defensively, physical. Mika is big for no reason. He's not remotely physical. Don't confuse defensive responsibility with aggression.

 

But if they're changing nothing, I'd at least try this.

Well you said checking/matchup line and I didn’t translate that to mean physical. I mean Florida’s 3rd line center is Anton Lundell and Edmonton’s is Adam Henrique. Ain’t nothing physical there. I get where you’re coming from though. I’d like the team to be meaner and tougher too. A grind-the-opposition-down line. We can dream.

 

I would consider Cuylle-Zibanejad-Kakko a strong matchup line you could play against the other team’s top lines and be comfortable they will play to a draw. If they catch a mismatch there’s enough talent there to pot some goals.

[Phil]

15 minutes ago, BrooksBurner said:

Well you said checking/matchup line and I didn’t translate that to mean physical. I mean Florida’s 3rd line center is Anton Lundell and Edmonton’s is Adam Henrique. Ain’t nothing physical there. I get where you’re coming from though. I’d like the team to be meaner and tougher too. A grind-the-opposition-down line. We can dream.

 

I would consider Cuylle-Zibanejad-Kakko a strong matchup line you could play against the other team’s top lines and be comfortable they will play to a draw. If they catch a mismatch there’s enough talent there to pot some goals.

 

Fair. I didn't describe what I meant by it. When I talk about a checking/matchup lineup, I mean one specifically designed to physically impose themselves in the playoffs. Think Dubinsky on Crosby.

 

Forget the line number — that doesn't matter. The only reason it's the third here is because of Zib/Tro.

 

Florida has the Barkov line that is the best shutdown line in hockey. Emulate that. You'll never meet the same bar because you don't have Barkov, but I'd 100% be trying to build a facsimile.

[RJWantsTheCup]

Right now they are kind of stuck with Chytil as 3C.  Unfortunately he has very little value until he proves he can play without getting hurt and that he can score on a more consistent basis.   Best they can hope for is him playing at least half the season and putting up decent numbers and then trading him.   He isn’t going to put up enough points to warrant being in our top six over Tro and Mika and he isn’t defensive enough to be a checking line center.   If only they were more comfortable with him on the wing instead of center.  

[Dem]

23 minutes ago, RJWantsTheCup said:

Right now they are kind of stuck with Chytil as 3C.  Unfortunately he has very little value until he proves he can play without getting hurt and that he can score on a more consistent basis.   Best they can hope for is him playing at least half the season and putting up decent numbers and then trading him.   He isn’t going to put up enough points to warrant being in our top six over Tro and Mika and he isn’t defensive enough to be a checking line center.   If only they were more comfortable with him on the wing instead of center.  

Move him, we need a physically imposing checking line #3. We don't get that w Chytil in the mix unfortunately. I like the player but there is no fit w the NMCs etc. Time to move on.

[RJWantsTheCup]

1 minute ago, Dem said:

Move him, we need a physically imposing checking line #3. We don't get that w Chytil in the mix unfortunately. I like the player but there is no fit w the NMCs etc. Time to move on.

I totally agree but I just don’t see his value being much of anything right now.  

[Dem]

41 minutes ago, RJWantsTheCup said:

I totally agree but I just don’t see his value being much of anything right now.  

In my opinion it doesn't matter he's a square peg being plugged into a round hole n taking the roster spot of a round peg. 

[SaveByRichter35]

3 hours ago, RJWantsTheCup said:

Right now they are kind of stuck with Chytil as 3C.  Unfortunately he has very little value until he proves he can play without getting hurt and that he can score on a more consistent basis.   Best they can hope for is him playing at least half the season and putting up decent numbers and then trading him.   He isn’t going to put up enough points to warrant being in our top six over Tro and Mika and he isn’t defensive enough to be a checking line center.   If only they were more comfortable with him on the wing instead of center.  

If they would just stick him on the wing I wouldn't mind seeing him on Tro's right wing and move Laf up to play with KZ.  I know the BreTroLaf line works wonderfully but I would explore how Chytil looks there.  If it doesn't work then so be it.  Sucks we lost a whole season of tinkering.

[Jdog99]

No doctor here but seems like hes come out the other side and possibly gotten past it. Maybe some cutting edge alternative treatment...or lotsa

 

Dont see why he cant return to full form and maybe take that next step. He looked pretty decent for someone who hadnt played in 6 months or whatever. Confident kid too. And the contract is pretty reasonable if he does make a comeback.

[Bugg]

Chytil isn't an answer. Assuming Brady Tkachuk is a pipe dream,  think they need to identify a young center they can get as they did with Mika. And the 2 that jump out are guys that both are somewhat undervalued and have issues, and both are from NY; Trevor Zegras and Shane Pinto. Pinto is a bigger guy and better at faceoffs, Zegras more of a scorer. Both haven't blown up but there is potential. Would think combo of Chytil,  Kakko and stuff could get one of them. 

[Pete]

7 hours ago, Bugg said:

Chytil isn't an answer. Assuming Brady Tkachuk is a pipe dream,  think they need to identify a young center they can get as they did with Mika. And the 2 that jump out are guys that both are somewhat undervalued and have issues, and both are from NY; Trevor Zegras and Shane Pinto. Pinto is a bigger guy and better at faceoffs, Zegras more of a scorer. Both haven't blown up but there is potential. Would think combo of Chytil,  Kakko and stuff could get one of them. 

Fuck Zegras. After seeing what we just saw, I want no part of a player who's 6-1 176 and soft as fuck. 

[BrooksBurner]

9 hours ago, Bugg said:

Chytil isn't an answer. Assuming Brady Tkachuk is a pipe dream,  think they need to identify a young center they can get as they did with Mika. And the 2 that jump out are guys that both are somewhat undervalued and have issues, and both are from NY; Trevor Zegras and Shane Pinto. Pinto is a bigger guy and better at faceoffs, Zegras more of a scorer. Both haven't blown up but there is potential. Would think combo of Chytil,  Kakko and stuff could get one of them. 

Interest in either of them depends on the direction Drury takes and the purpose behind moves that he makes. Hoping Drury had a moment of realization that this isn’t the team to keep changing the tires on. New engine required.

 

I like both the guys you mentioned. They are the right age for Lafreniere’s window, and talented. Those type of guys you get when the moves are meant to be prepping for the next 6-8 years and not the next 1-2.

[Bugg]

3 hours ago, Pete said:

Fuck Zegras. After seeing what we just saw, I want no part of a player who's 6-1 176 and soft as fuck. 

Get that. But too many shifts looks like the forwards on this team are indifferent to trying to score goals. Nobody shoots or goes to the net. Yes, after this ending, size and snarl matter. But being offensively dangerous matters. If you can go to the net and cause problems for the other team and score goals, that helps. And that's why to me Chytil and Kakko need to be gone; total passengers. They may still have some cache as top picks, but I've seen enough. 

[Pete]

13 minutes ago, Bugg said:

Get that. But too many shifts looks like the forwards on this team are indifferent to trying to score goals. Nobody shoots or goes to the net. Yes, after this ending, size and snarl matter. But being offensively dangerous matters. If you can go to the net and cause problems for the other team and score goals, that helps. And that's why to me Chytil and Kakko need to be gone; total passengers. They may still have some cache as top picks, but I've seen enough. 

I haven't watched enough of him to say whether or not he's a perimeter player, but his size alone is prohibitive to getting to the front against a lot of teams. 

[RangersIn7]

34 minutes ago, Pete said:

I haven't watched enough of him to say whether or not he's a perimeter player, but his size alone is prohibitive to getting to the front against a lot of teams. 

The flip side though is the speed and skill are tremendous.

 

And also… he’s a goddamn loud mouth pest that the other team hates.

If he matures some and gets a bit of snarl, god could he be good. 
 

 

Yes… he’s more of a perimeter guy.

But shit does he have talent.

[BrooksBurner]

Assuming nothing significant changes, the Rangers have to pre-plan what they look like in 2 years when Panarin is gone and Zibanejad/Trocheck are more mid-6 types.

 

They will need a 1C. They will need talent. Right now the last thing anyone is thinking about is "the team needs a Zegras". It won't be long at all before they do, and when they do they might not be able to find it. High end talent is the hardest thing to get. That's why Panarin was a premium on the market. It seems like you just have to get lucky in whether you get a skill player who can do it consistently when it matters, but you can only find out if you have it in the first place.

 

If Zegras is available, you try to get him because that's potentially the 1C in 2 years and player you could pair with Lafreniere for the next 10 years.

[Phil]

5 hours ago, Pete said:

Fuck Zegras. After seeing what we just saw, I want no part of a player who's 6-1 176 and soft as fuck. 

 

Yeah, I've no desire to replace Zib with smaller Zib. I get what @BrooksBurner is saying about thinking ahead, but fuck the future. They need to focus on next year and maybe the year after. That's it. Fix shit that may be broken then.

[Br4d]

7 minutes ago, Phil said:

 

Yeah, I've no desire to replace Zib with smaller Zib. I get what @BrooksBurner is saying about thinking ahead, but fuck the future. They need to focus on next year and maybe the year after. That's it. Fix shit that may be broken then.

 

The problem with this point of view is that it assumes there is real growth available in the core and the truth is there is no growth possible in the core.

 

The only players the Rangers skated this year who are *likely* to be better in two years are Laf and Cuylle.  All of the other people we think of as stars or potential stars are already on the downside or have stubbornly refused to grow on their own.

[BrooksBurner]

10 minutes ago, Phil said:

 

Yeah, I've no desire to replace Zib with smaller Zib. I get what @BrooksBurner is saying about thinking ahead, but fuck the future. They need to focus on next year and maybe the year after. That's it. Fix shit that may be broken then.

Immediate gratification that leads to disappointment. I know it’s what Drury will do, but it doesn’t make it less gross. Tripling down on the bums when you’ve got a 1OA franchise player’s prime coming up is just insane. The thought of it just churns my stomach….brb

 

Edited June 6 by BrooksBurner

[Pete]

16 minutes ago, BrooksBurner said:

Immediate gratification that leads to disappointment. I know it’s what Drury will do, but it doesn’t make it less gross. Tripling down on the bums when you’ve got a 1OA franchise player’s prime coming up is just insane. The thought of it just churns my stomach….brb

 

It's literally what HAS to be done due to trade protections. You take your cracks with Igor while you have him. Then you think about what comes next when guys like Trouba (assuming he isn't moved this summer), Kreider, Panarin, are off the books.

 

EDIT: Missed your post before this one. Yea, it is what it is, but if you're trying to grab him now you might as well start selling.

Edited June 6 by Pete