Eighteen years and 16 days old, Filip Chytil is oozing talent. You could tell that even before his lightning one-timer from the right doorstep off Mats Zuccarello’s cross-ice power-play feed with 3.5 seconds remaining in overtime gave the Rangers a 4-3 exhibition victory over the Devils at the Garden on Wednesday.
“He’s really skilled. You can see that in practice every day, the way he moves the puck and sees the ice,” said Zuccarello, who then added 19-year-old, seventh-overall selection Lias Andersson into the conversation. “These two first-rounders are really impressive, they’ve both done a good job.
“Lias is more of a hard-working two-way player. Chytil is highly skilled and can make plays no one else can do. I think we are very lucky to have both, when their time comes.”
Can that time be now for Chytil? That seems unlikely, but the Rangers are sure not going to rush to judgment on the Czech center, who was born just 10 days before the Sept. 15, 1999, cutoff date for eligibility for the 2017 draft and as such was one of the youngest players selected in Chicago.
Chytil, who skated on a line with Zuccarello and Chris Kreider, was bubbling over with excitement in the locker room after ending his first pseudo NHL game in what was his first game action in a month since suffering a groin injury representing his country in the Four Nations Tournament.
“It was an amazing feeling to score a goal in overtime. My first goal was a winning goal,” he said. “It felt great. I’m really happy.”
If it goes that far, the Blueshirts won’t have to make a decision on Chytil until he has played in nine regular-season games. That’s the max number of matches in which he can play before the first year of his entry-level deal kicks in.
Chytil would be eligible to play for AHL Hartford or OHL North Bay, but general manager Jeff Gorton told The Post if the teen does not stick with the Rangers, the plan likely would be for him to return to HC Zlin of the Czech League, “where he is comfortable.”
The youngster looked comfortable throughout his 18:52 (8:56 with the man advantage), both leading the rush with speed and competing in traffic. He dazzled on a first-period rush on which he set up Zuccarello after a little soccer-style kick of the puck off his skate to his blade.
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“It was a continuation of what we’ve seen in practice,” said coach Alain Vigneault. “He’s very smooth and a good skater. He was able to go into traffic. He does it in practice — his teammates aren’t going to abuse him — so it was interesting to see what he could do in a game. He got into traffic and made the plays that he had to make.”
Andersson, who had skated between Michael Grabner and Pavel Buchnevich in Monday’s opening 1-0 OT victory over the Islanders, was cast in a more defensive role in this one. The Swede got 12:14 that included 2:33 of penalty-killing time while playing primarily with Andrew Desjardins and Adam Tambellini at even strength.
“I wanted to get a sense of his understanding on the penalty kill,” said Vigneault. “We’re obviously trying to develop our players but we also want to get an idea of where their game-sense is. I thought for the most part he did all right.”
Henrik Lundqvist yielded two goals on 13 shots in 30:09 before yielding to Alexandar Georgiev. The King said he felt as comfortable as expected. Kreider, Kevin Hayes and David Desharnais scored the Blueshirts’ other three goals. Rangers were called for three faceoff violations with the Devils called for one. Hayes was tossed from the opening faceoff. The Blueshirts meets the Islanders in Bridgeport on Friday.