Chytil as a 1C? Is the kid even ready to play?

Even if he is, which is a big IF, he gets no where near 1C. He is a 3C on the Rangers.

Chytil is a 3C on this team and that is IF he can ever play again. I hope he can, but its still a big if.

Nope. 2C at worst. I think Zibanejad should be 2C since he's clearly on the decline age-wise but I could accept another season with him as the top line C. But Chytil needs to be getting top minutes with Panarin. Look at Lafreniere's development this year. He was literally worse than Chytil last year but he was given a shot on the Panarin line and he's developing beautifully. Chytil needs the same respect and opportunity. That's your #1C of the future. And he's going to come back in great health.

He will be by October.

No chance. Trocheck is a big reason for Laffy's improvement this year and Panarin's best season yet, so no way that line should be broken up under any circumstance, and Mika is having a down year for him but he still a far better offensive player and all around player than Chytil has ever been. Chytil is a 3C until he actually shows on the ice two things....1. he can stay healthy, and 2. he can out play Mika or Trocheck and for that he has a long way to go.

Trocheck is having a career year at 30 and doesn't have nearly as much to do with Lafreniere's development, as Panarin does. That's not to say Trocheck isn't useful. He is and I'm glad he stepped up. But we've seen Trocheck's ceiling. We haven't seen Chytil's. Let him be an elite 3C and help to develop Cuylle in particular, who he would be a great role model for.

Also, Panarin's line was already looking great before Chytil got concussed. Panarin-Chytil-Lafreniere was the hottest line in hockey. So it's great that Trocheck was able to slot in but he's not solely responsible for the success of that line when it already looked great with another centre. Panarin is 90% responsible for the success of that line.

Chytil in a short sample size already looked better than Zibanejad did all year. But people don't want to hear Zibanejad criticism so I won't elaborate. Also, Chytil doesn't have a general problem staying healthy. It's specifically concussions that he has an issue with. The Jesper Fast hit this year wasn't bad, but last year he was concussed on a dirty late hit by Sam Lafferty. And we have a deterrent for dirty late hits now, and his name is Matt Rempe.

Not sure what games you were watching in the beginning of the year but Chytil didn't even score a goal before he got hurt. Panarin carried the line. Once Trochek took over, the entire line flourished and has been the best line on the team all year, and Laffy has definitely benefited from being with Troch in the middle. Troch is a point per game player that plays strong defense, is great in the face off circle, plays physical and plays every game. Chytil at his best is about half a point per game player, average defensively, terrible at face-offs, plays soft as tissue paper, and is hurt all the time, and concussions are one of the worst injuries to be prone to, so you need to stop looking through rose colored glasses when you look at Chytil. He is young and has potential but he is not in Troch or Mika's league as an NHL center yet, not even close. Let him come back, show he can stay healthy while centering the 3rd line and he can help develop Cuylee. If he can do that and put up 0.75 to 1.00 point per game, then maybe he moves up to 2C, but that's way down the road.

No. Just no. And the classic lines about "soft as tissue paper" just tells me that you are biased against European players and will never change your mind. He's an elite talent and proved last year that he can be a 1C one day. If you look at numbers, he's more productive than Zibanejad was when he was Chytil's age. You don't stick players like that on the 3rd line unless you want to massively hinder their development. Imagine if Pittsburgh treated Crosby that way because of his injury history.

You see what you just said? "he can be a 1C one day". OK, maybe we can agree on that, but the day is certainly not now when the Rangers have 2 centers that are heads and shoulder better then he is at present. The team is trying to win a cup which means the best players play more and have bigger roles. It would be very stupid to play Chytil 18 minuets a night as 1C or 2C and have Mika or Troch playing 13 or 14 minutes a night as a 3C. Understand? Down the road some, after Chytil proves he can play again, stay healthy and out play Mika or Troch, then he can move up to 2C or 1C. That's how hockey works.

Still. Beating. That. Drum.

Based on what happened with Michael Sauer's career, I think we should just be praying for Chytil's health at the moment before annointing him the 1C.

Of course I only want great things for Chytil's health. But I know for a fact that he'll come back stronger than ever. He's a true competitor. He will be back. I'm highly highly confident that he will be back. I'm sure he could even be back already. It's just out of an abundance of caution to let him sit.

There's a big difference between being a future 1C, and what you said, that he's a 3C on the Rangers. He's not a 3C anymore than Trocheck deserves to be a 3C. There's a reason that Chytil was placed on the 2nd line instead of Trocheck and was doing well to start the year. Trocheck being the 3C wasn't an insult to Trocheck. It was just a display of faith in Chytil and an opportunity for him to develop with an elite LW and increased minutes. And it's not like he's done anything wrong to lose the 2C spot. He's not like Kakko who wasn't producing and got demoted because of that. If he never got hurt he would still be on the 2nd line with Panarin and Lafreniere. And I bet that he will either be back with Panarin and Lafreniere next year right away. Or at the very least, as soon as the Trocheck version of the line goes cold, he will take Trocheck's spot again. But this shouldn't even really be an argument because the Rangers are lucky to have such fantastic centre depth that one of Chytil or Trocheck is the 3C.

And like I said RE: Zibanejad, he's on the decline. Trocheck has been way better than Zibenajad this year. So if it were totally up to me, I would have 1st line Chytil, 2nd line Trocheck, 3rd line Zibanejad (or would trade Zibanejad altogether). But I know how these coaches work and they'll never have the guts to demote Zibanejad even if he plays poorly.

You are completely wrong on why Trocheck started the year as 3C. It was because the new coach likes to have a 3rd line that is a shut down/checking line and that is something Chytil cannot do but Trocheck can, so he gave Chytil a shot at 2C to see if he could progress. If Lavi didn't prefer a defensive 3rd line he would have had Trocheck as 2C to start the year because it is obvious to every GM, coach, assistant coach and hockey executive in the NHL that Trocheck is a far superior NHL center than Chytil and it's not even that close. But now after seeing how Panarin and Laffy play on a line with Trocheck, no NHL coach would split them up and throw in an inferior center on that line in the hopes he can progress and become a legit 2C. IF Chytil can play again, he will be their 3C because he is the 3rd best NHL center on their roster, period, amen. You want to live in a fantasy world where Chytil is a better 1C or 2C than Mika or Trocheck, go ahead, but it's not reality based.

You know what? I went and looked up some of your past trade proposals for the Rangers and it's pretty obvious you are either a troll or not dealing in reality. The funniest were the trade Artemi Panarin with 50% retention, but the trade Igor and trade Laffy ones were pretty funny too. Enjoy your trolling.

I don't think I ever said to trade Lafreniere and IF I did, it wasn't because Lafreniere is bad or did anything wrong, just that in the past he would've been a valuable trade chip. Now I would never trade him after his good progress this year.

Panarin deserved all of those criticisms with his pedestrian play last regular season and his EMBARRASSING playoff performance last year. I stand by that and I don't take it back. Especially for nearly 12m it was a disgrace. NOW he is finally playing like a 12m worthy player. So I don't think he should be traded anymore. IF he disappears in the playoffs again this year, I will go back to those statements because it's not acceptable. So we will have to see.

I still agree that Igor should be traded. It's better to have a well-rounded skater group and a "good" goalie, than a mid-tier skater group and an "elite" goalie. Which I think he's overrated anyways and pales in comparison to Henrik Lundqvist. But he has the "name brand" of being elite and will get paid as such on his next contract. I just hope the Rangers aren't the ones to do that.

And it's not trolling to say these things. My proposals are well-thought out and just because I say things that other people are too afraid to, doesn't mean I'm trolling. It's called an unpopular opinion for a reason. The FACT is that you're obviously not a student of the game and you're not dealing in reality.

If you're not trolling than the only other explanation for your past trades and thinking Chytil is the teams best center is you are detached from reality my friend. Panarin had 92 points last season and you call that "pedestrian"? LOL. He didn't have a good playoffs vs the Devils, but Kreider was the only Ranger forward that showed up for that series, so trading Panarin with 50% retention based on that one series is unhinged. If they had, he would be having a great season for another team with the Rangers paying half the freight. Do you not see how dumb that would have been? You posted dumb Laffy trades too, just look them up. And Igor is over rated? He won a Vezina his 2nd full year in the league and is 133-59-17 with a .920 career save % and a 2.44 GAA. To think he is over rated is about as dumb as it gets. Check yourself in somewhere because you need a whole team of professionals working on you.

For nearly 12m, yes, 90 points is pedestrian. Especially when he scored less than 30 goals. For almost 12m I want that player to be 110+ points and over 35 goals. And NOT a playoff ghost. Being defensively responsible would be awesome too. So yes, I did have a problem that Panarin hit exactly ZERO of those marks in 2022-23.

I mean, Chytil is the team's best centre if we are talking pure skill/talent. He literally was more productive at 18-23 than Zibanejad was at that age -- look at the numbers. He's also more dynamic than Zibanejad and is a true game breaking player. It's a matter of developing him. He could EASILY be a 40+ goal player and 100 point scorer if given the opportunity and tools to succeed.

Sorry, but I honestly think you need help. Not going to engage with you.

Just point out what exactly I said that's wrong. You can't. I'm dealing in facts and numbers.