There are lower numbers available that might connote status for Filip Chytil, the 18-year-old freshman who earned a spot on the roster and in the opening night lineup wearing the No. 72 he was assigned for training camp.
But Chytil told club officials he prefers to keep No. 72, The Post has learned, in recognition of his father, Rostislav Chytil, who was born in 1972 and taught the center how to play hockey.
Filip Chytil will become the first player in franchise history to wear that number. Six previous Rangers have worn Blueshirts numbered in the 70s — Mackenzie Skapski, 70; Mike Rupp, 71; Brandon Pirri, 73; Joel Bouchard, 74; Brady Skjei, 76; Phil Esposito, 77 — with Anthony DeAngelo set to wear No. 77 after receiving Esposito’s blessing this summer.
Kevin Shattenkirk did not practice Friday in taking the day for maintenance. Following the club’s day off Saturday, the defenseman is expected to get back on the ice Sunday before the Rangers depart to Lake Placid on their team-bonding journey.
“I definitely think it’s an important three-day trip where we get the opportunity to know each other,” said Henrik Lundqvist, who has had 174 teammates since joining the club following the canceled 2004-05 season. “There are a lot of guys here I haven’t spent a lot of time with, we’ve been on different [training camp] teams, and it’s just been the last couple of days, really, we’ve been in one group here at the practice rink.
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“So to go away, sit down and talk to one another and to get to know especially the new guys, I think it’s very important.”
The Blueshirts will hold one practice at Lake Placid in between an array of team-bonding exercises. Six players — Shattenkirk, Chytil, DeAngelo, Paul Carey, Ondrej Pavelec and David Desharnais — are scheduled to make their Broadway debuts this season.
“I think any time you make as many changes as we have, it’s good to get them together to do something different away from the rink and off the ice,” associate coach Scott Arniel said. “That’s always a positive. These guys will have lots of fun and enjoy it.
“We’ll have them rooming with different guys who maybe they normally wouldn’t hang around with. We have three different teams set up, split up into guys they normally don’t play with. Maybe young guys with old guys, different nationalities. We’re really breaking it up so they get to grow together.”
Righty Jesper Fast, in a non-contact jersey as he continues to rehab from postseason hip surgery, filled in for the right-handed Shattenkirk on the power-play point. Fast, a penalty-killing mainstay, has played a total of 29:16 on the power play throughout his four-year, 216-game NHL career.