We’re eight days away from the Rangers’ season opener and while it is still too early to declare Filip Chytil has lost the second-line center spot at which he was given first crack, it is assuredly accurate to state the 20-year-old has done little through training camp and his two exhibition matches to nail it down.
And so, with Brett Howden skating between Vitali Kravtsov and Kaapo Kakko and Ryan Strome lining up in the middle for the first time this preseason in Tuesday’s 3-1 exhibition win against the Islanders at the Garden, the Rangers will perhaps have unexpected decisions to confront if Chytil does not pick it up before it starts for real next Thursday.