Last month, the president of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, visited New York City.
Somewhere between leading the Czech delegation to the UN General Assembly and addressing the Future Summit at the United Nations Headquarters, Pavel found the time to go watch countryman Filip Chytil and the New York Rangers play the Islanders in an exhibition game at Madison Square Garden.
The two snapped a picture together after the game, with Pavel donning a Rangers baseball cap and an ear-to-ear smile.
Chytil signed a No. 72 jersey for the politician to commemorate their first meeting.
Czech Republic president Petr Pavel and Filip Chytil of the Rangers
“He had some meeting here in New York City, so he wanted to come for the game,” Chytil told The Post on Monday morning before the Rangers took on the Red Wings. “Amazing. This president is actually very nice. It was a nice chat. To meet the president is always nice. That was amazing.”
Among European countries, the Czech Republic is the second most common country of origin for NHL players after Finland.
And here was the president of Czechia coming to see Chytil, who is just one of an impressive pool of Czech NHL players, highlighted by the Bruins’ David Pastrnak, the Golden Knights’ Tomas Hertl and the Devils’ Ondrej Palat.
Chytil’s name might fit in among those players in Czechia, but not so much in the U.S.
Filip Chytil #72 of the New York Rangers passes the puck to Will Cuylle #50 of the New York Rangers.
That is no knock on Chytil as an NHL player, his game or his standing in the league, but more of a testament to how much injuries have hindered his career.
The Czech center has lost out on so much time due to his extensive injury history, which includes four suspected concussions — the most recent one sidelining him 72 of 82 regular-season games last season.
And yet, Chytil is still a player worth coming to see between tending to world matters and political responsibilities.
That’s because at age 25, in his eighth NHL season, Chytil’s potential and ceiling are still as high as they were when he made his debut Oct. 5, 2017.
There is still an unknown to No. 72, who has yet to complete a full 82-game season.
“Not everything is perfect and it’s probably never going to be in my whole career, but it’s moving in the right direction,” Chytil said when asked if he felt like he was in game shape yet. “There’s a lot of details in the game that I still have to focus on. It’s harder for me to be good at them right away when I missed the whole year [last season]. It’s been a long time.
Filip Chytil of the New York Rangers moves the puck.
“I’m just focusing on my game, playing my game, and with everything else I have to work on, just doing it every day, trying to put it in my head and working hard on that every single day.”
Despite scoring in the season-opening rout of the Penguins, Chytil has largely appeared unsatisfied with his and his line’s body of work so far.
Not in a despondent kind of way, but an unfulfilled kind of way.
Chytil, Kaapo Kakko and Will Cuylle have been on the ice for four Rangers goals and zero against, in addition to holding a notable 20-9 edge in scoring chances through just 21:16 of ice time, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The Rangers third unit has been one of the most consistent through the first two games, but Chytil wants more — for his line, his team and himself.
He plans to find out what he’s fully capable of.
“Eighty-two games plus playoffs, that’s my only goal,” Chytil said bluntly. “I know when I’m healthy what I can do and what I can bring to this team.”
