Filip Chytil going down for the remainder of the 2023-24 NHL season was a huge blow to the New York Rangers as they contend for the Stanley Cup come June. Chytil, 24, won’t see the ice again this year due to a lingering upper-body injury (concussion) he originally sustained in November and resurfaced during last Friday’s morning skate.
Rangers: Filip Chytil’s absence coupled with a rough stretch may warrant a push for Canadiens’ Sean Monahan
In his place, Sportsnet’s Elliott Friedman identified Montreal Canadiens center Sean Monahan as a piece the Rangers may look to ingratiate into their fold ahead of the March 8 trade deadline, per bluelinestation.com’s Conor Power.
The Rangers went an impressive 8-2 in the 10 games Chytil appeared in this year. Much of that coincided with the Rangers’ blistering start to the season in the month of October.
Nevertheless, while the Rangers (30-16) continue to sit atop the Metropolitan division, they’ve gone 5-7 in the month of January, and in that span, have a point percentage of 42.9 percent that places them at No. 22 of 32 teams in the NHL.
What would Monahan bring to the table for the Rangers?
Monahan has 13 goals and 22 assists in the 2023-24 campaign. Of his 35 total points, eight have come in his last five outings. Monahan is a solid offensive piece who is also currently putting up the second-highest faceoff win percentage of his career at 55 percent.
The Rangers have been able to keep a winning record without Chytil, but as the back half of the season enters a crucial stretch, the bottom six will likely need reinforcements for the short term, especially once the playoffs roll around.
Monahan’s $1.98 million cap hit makes the 29-year-old an attractive target for Rangers management to pursue, even despite the 74 total games he missed over the course of his two prior seasons.