Rangers coach David Quinn puts Filip Chytil back in the lineup, sits Jimmy Vesey
Rangers center Filip Chytil sets before a faceoff against the Ducks in the first period of a game at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 18. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Filip Chytil must have done a heck of a job sitting out Monday’s Rangers game because he was back in the lineup on Wednesday night against the Penguins at the Garden.
Actually, coach David Quinn said it wasn’t so much the learning the 19-year-old Chytil did. It was some of the things Quinn saw from other players on Monday that he didn’t like. So Jimmy Vesey was the healthy scratch against Pittsburgh after playing in all 38 previous games.
“No, it was not the plan, but that’s the way it happened,” Quinn said. “Sometimes that is the plan — it certainly wasn’t the plan for Fil — but the way our game went the other night, other people gave him an opportunity to get back in.”
Asked about the nature of Vesey’s transgressions, Quinn said: “Jimmy and I have had a couple of conversations. He understands what he needs to do to be the player he’s capable of being and why he’s not in tonight. But we’ll keep that between he and I. But he’s a guy that obviously has had a pretty good year, but a little bit of a downward spiral right now. We just need more out of him.”
As for Chytil, he really did try to make the most of his benching.
“It’s always hard to not play games, but I watched the other guys, how they play, and I have to — I know what I have to change when I play,” he said. “Some details. I have to improve my game and I think it will help me . . . The last couple games I didn’t play well, but I think it’s a long season.”
Quinn, Sullivan: BU ties
Quinn and Penguins coach Mike Sullivan were teammates at Boston University for two seasons and know each other well.
“Mike and I obviously have a long relationship and have been close friends for a long time,” Quinn said. “We’re not brothers — despite the fact that everyone thinks we look alike — but he’s a great coach and one of my closest friends.”
Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.
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